Left in place is a lower court ruling that the state law is unconstitutional because it bars outside
developers of federally approved regional transmission lines, which were
termed “classic instruments of interstate commerce.”
Analysis noted near shutdown by utlity Con Ed in NYC, as federal energy regulator also okayed four natural gas projects but left a controversial climate change measure undecided.
US Energy Dept. cites report of 22 'shovel ready' high-voltage transmission and clean-energy link projects valued at $33 billion, but analysis claims half won't be built 'near term' due to planning and permitting hurdles.