NY Regulator Nixes State Agency Bid to Speed $5B Transmission Line Build
Project's future in carrying more clean energy to NYC area is unclear but state Power Authority notes two other transmission projects under way,
The New York Public Service Commission has denied the state Power Authority’s request to take over building on an expedited schedule the proposed 175-mile Clean Path power transmission project from upstate Delaware County to New York City, estimated at $5 billion.
Authority spokesperson Lindsay Krysak said while the agency is “disappointed in the commission’s decision to not allow us to move forward, the [agency] remains laser-focused on modernizing the state’s transmission system.” She said two major projects still underway are Smart Path Connect with National Grid and Propel NY Energy with Transco.
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The original private developer, a joint venture of EnergyRe and Invenergy, cancelled its involvement in the development in late 2024 over rising costs. The New York Power Authority moved to take over construction, seeking designation for it as a “priority project” to use an expedited planning process to fast-track wind and solar power transmission, partly in existing rights-of-way.
But the commission did not support the authority's argument for the designation, claiming the project did not need to meet a previously announced 2030 operating date based on either need or extent of work completed.
"As decarbonization proceeds, the project will not be needed to serve substantial amounts of generation until well after 2033 and possibly not until 2040," the regulator said.
It is not clear how or when work on Clean Path would resume.
“Ruling against [the] petition is a ruling against labor, New Yorkers and a more livable future,” said Public Power NY, a renewable power advocacy coalition.
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