New York’s Proactive Grid Planning Proceeding

In August, 2024, the New York State Public Service Commission commenced a proceeding to evaluate new energy loads from transportation and building electrification to proactively identify and develop future grid infrastructure needs. As part of this new proceeding, the Commission will direct New York’s investor-owned utilities to develop a framework for proactively planning for infrastructure needs driven by transportation and building electrification.In typical infrastructure planning studies, each individual utility identifies potential needs as they arise in their territory, either from new service requests or load letters — requests for new or increased electrical service — from new or existing customers or through their planning processes based on forecasted load. However, the rate at which consumers are electrifying buildings and vehicles has the potential to outpace the existing grid planning processes. The new planning framework directed by the Commission is designed to proactively identify grid infrastructure needs to ensure the utilities expand the system in the most cost effective and timely manner. The new planning framework will also ensure that the utilities leverage shared, best-in-class information and techniques to ensure that each utility is coordinating across geographies and service territories.

The Commission directed the major utilities to file a proposal for a long-term coordinated planning process to study and identify necessary upgrades to support electrification. In this proposal, the utilities will account for new electrification loads beyond the transportation sector, including, but not limited to, electrification of buildings, such as housing or industrial loads related to economic development that can similarly drive system upgrade needs. The proposal shall, at a minimum, include assumptions and methods that will underlie the process, as well as identify necessary data and timelines needed to carry out the study.