New Empire State Line Will Help New York Meet Clean Energy Goals
Image courtesy of Ken Lund under Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License, resized to 700 x 391 pixels.
New York needs additional transmission capacity, and the recently completed Empire State Line project is just what the doctor ordered. Reliability margins across the NY grid are dwindling, and therefore without new transmission capacity such as this, the state’s electric utilities will struggle to meet the state’s decarbonization goals.
Details of the Empire State Line
The good news is that all of the state’s stakeholders in this matter – from utility decision-makers to government representatives – have always been on the same page in terms of realizing the challenges that await in trying to achieve a net-zero emissions electricity sector by 2040. They understand the issues and have mobilized into action.
The most recent action is the construction of the Empire State Line, a 20-mile 345-kv transmission line built by NextEra Transmission New York which went into operation in June 2022. The project encompasses two 345-kv switchyards located in Elma and Roylaton and incorporates a “phase-angle regulator” transformer that can control power flows across the line.
It was the state’s first competitively bid transmission project and will enable the integration of 3,700 MW of renewable energy into the grid. Overall, the new transmission capacity will help New York reach an intermediate goal of 70% clean electricity by 2030.
Additionally, New York is proceeding with 2 separate projects that will secure clean energy from upstate as well as Canada for New York City. The first is the Champlain Hudson project, which will be developed by Blackstone Group’s Transmission Developers and is targeting an in-operation timeline of 2025, and the Clean Path NY project, expected to be operational in 2027.
I applaud New York’s efforts to expand transmission capacity in a way that will facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources into the grid. Projects like Champlain Hudson, Clean Path NY, and the Empire State Line will improve reliability and help combat climate change – both of which are helpful from a utility emergency preparedness perspective.
