Public Service Commission Abandons NYC Transmission Line Essential for Offshore Wind Energy

ALBANY, NY – The New York State Public Service Commission today withdrew the New York City Offshore Wind Public Policy Transmission Need (NYC PPTN), abandoning efforts to develop a transmission line to connect multiple offshore wind farms to provide clean energy and meet growing demand. 

Yesterday, organizations urged the Public Service Commission to delay its decision on the NYC PPTN until New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) has completed a comprehensive assessment of the projects’ costs and benefits. 

The following is reaction from Chris Casey, utility regulatory director, New York, at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

“The Public Service Commission’s decision to cancel the process for identifying the most effective transmission project for connecting multiple offshore wind to New York City is deeply disappointing. 

“The commission’s own analysis found an urgent need for transmission capable of delivering thousands of megawatts of offshore wind into New York City. Given physical and regulatory constraints on how many transmission cables can be laid in New York Harbor, options are severely limited. A transmission line to connect multiple offshore wind farms to the city remains one of the only viable pathways for advancing the state’s climate mandates in downstate regions and reducing reliance on fossil fuel power plants that are polluting the air, harming the climate, and disproportionately burdening low-income communities and communities of color.

“Rather than stepping back, the state should be continuing low-cost, high-value work—such as completing the grid operator’s cost benefit analysis, selecting the most effective  project, and advancing state-level approvals—to position New York to move quickly once federal barriers ease. Abandoning the process now is a huge missed opportunity that locks in additional years of delay and halts progress on developing this critical and affordable resource. New York must continue to lead—not retreat—on offshore wind.”

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law, and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health, and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd). Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.