New York Commission Advances Coordinated Grid Planning to Meet Clean Energy Goals

The New York Public Service Commission has approved a Coordinated Grid Planning Process that will enable the commission and the state’s major utilities to identify transmission investments required to meet the goals of the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Following the approval, the utilities will conduct studies over the next 24 months and submit proposed transmission investment plans for review by the commission.

In 2020, the commission launched a proceeding to implement the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act, enacted in that year, directing the commission and utilities to plan the electric transmission infrastructure needed to meet the state’s clean energy and climate goals, including 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030 and zero-emissions electricity by 2040. The act called for actions to ensure that renewable energy can be efficiently and cost-effectively injected into the state’s transmission and distribution system for delivery to regions where it is needed. The act further directed the commission to develop plans that “provide for the timely development of local transmission and distribution upgrades” by the state’s regulated utilities and the Long Island Power Authority. To address these planning requirements, commission directed the utilities to file proposals for changes to their planning processes.

The utilities submitted their response in a November 2020 filing, which included a proposed portfolio of transmission investments and a description of their existing system planning processes, as well as a proposals for some adaptations. In a September 2021 order, the commission found the filing to be inadequate. The utilities responded with their initial proposal in December 2021, and commission staff established the Coordinated Grid Planning Working Group to provide a forum for interested stakeholders to participate in refining and finalizing the  proposal. After a series of technical conferences, the utilities filed their final proposal in December 2022.

The utilities are Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation, Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc., Long Island Power Authority, National Grid (upstate), New York State Electric & Gas Corporation, Orange & Rockland Utilities Inc., and Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation.