NYPA approves plan for Northern New York priority transmission project

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) on Tuesday approved a plan for the Northern New York priority transmission project (NNYPTP).

NYPA trustees also ratified the selection of National Grid as the project’s co-participant.

NNYPTP is a “major” transmission-line rebuild that will “harden the resiliency of New York’s power grid and accelerate movement toward meeting New York State’s aggressive clean-energy goals,” per a NYPA news release.

The board’s authorization paves the way for engineering and planning work to begin in preparation for the project’s environmental review and approval process through the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC). The project is expected to “stimulate local and regional economies by creating and supporting hundreds of clean-energy construction jobs,” NYPA contended.

The authorization to “accept, develop and operate” the transmission project was part of Tuesday’s board of trustees meeting.

The NNYPTP — spanning approximately 100 miles of transmission lines across the North Country and through the Mohawk Valley on the southern-most portion — is expected to begin construction next year and take about three years to complete.

The NNYPTP is a multi-faceted project that includes: completion of the second phase of NYPA’s Smart Path Moses-Adirondack rebuild; rebuilding about 45 miles of transmission eastward from Massena (St. Lawrence County) to the town of Clinton (Clinton County), known as the Northern Alignment; rebuilding about 55 miles of transmission southward from Croghan (Lewis County) to Marcy (Oneida County), known as the Southern Alignment; and rebuilding and expanding several substations along the impacted transmission corridor.

The work falls primarily within existing transmission rights-of-way, according to NYPA.

National Grid selected

In selecting National Grid as a co-participant on the project, NYPA cited among other things, National Grid’s “extensive” experience planning, developing, constructing, managing, and operating transmission projects similar in type and scale to the NNYPTP.

NYPA also cited the utility’s ownership and familiarity of property and transmission facilities that can be used to support the expeditious development of the project.

Project costs will be estimated as the project’s design and scope are finalized and will be shared between NYPA and National Grid. The selection of National Grid as a co-developer for the NNYPTP is subject to the Authority and National Grid reaching agreement on proposed terms and conditions for development of the project.