RENSSELAER — The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), a nonprofit corporation that operates the state’s bulk electricity grid, recently released Power Trends 2024, an annual publication that discusses the key issues and challenges shaping the grid of the future. Including new data and metrics, the report also summarizes work by the NYISO to maintain […]
RENSSELAER — The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), a nonprofit corporation that operates the state’s bulk electricity grid, recently released Power Trends 2024, an annual publication that discusses the key issues and challenges shaping the grid of the future. Including new data and metrics, the report also summarizes work by the NYISO to maintain reliability and advance competitive electric markets through the grid in transition. NYISO highlighted the following key messages in Power Trends 2024: •
Public policies are driving rapid change in the electric system in the state, affecting how electricity is produced, transmitted, and consumed. •
Electrification programs and economic-development initiatives are driving projected demand higher. Generator deactivations are outpacing new supply additions. Specifically, “traditional fossil-fueled generation is retiring faster than renewable and other clean energy resources are entering service,” NYISO wrote in its report. Together, these forces are narrowing electric-grid reliability margins across New York. •
The potential for delays in construction of new supply and transmission, higher than forecasted demand, and extreme weather are threatening reliability of the grid. •
The statewide grid is projected to become a winter-peaking system in the 2030s, mostly driven by electrification of space heating and transportation. The switch to a winter peak brings new reliability concerns related to fuel security that the NYISO says it is working to address through changes to planning and market rules. •
NYISO’s interconnection processes is evolving to balance developer flexibility with the need to manage the process to more stringent timeframes. It says efforts are underway to make this process more efficient while protecting grid reliability. •
New emission-free resources are needed to meet the goals of the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). Those resources are not yet available on a commercial scale, NYISO contends. •
NYISO’s wholesale electricity markets are an important tool to attract necessary investments to facilitate the transition of the grid in the coming decades. You can read the full Power Trends 2024 report at: https://www.nyiso.com/documents/20142/2223020/2024-Power-Trends.pdf/31ec9a11-21f2-0b47-677d-f4a498a32978?t=1717677687961