Governor Announces $30 Million to Support Modernization of New York’s Electric Grid

Governor Announces $30 Million to Support Modernization of New York’s Electric Grid

 

State Seeking Proposals to Help Transition New York’s Electric Grid to a Clean Energy Economy and Improve Resilience While Reducing Energy Usage and Costs

Supports the Governor’s Green New Deal – The Nation-Leading Clean Energy and Jobs Agenda That Puts New York State on a Path to Carbon Neutrality to Combat Climate Change

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced up to $30 million is available to support projects to improve the resiliency, flexibility, and integration of renewable energy resources onto New York’s electric grid. Project proposals will be evaluated based on how they improve overall grid performance, reduce energy costs and support the state’s nation-leading clean energy goals to combat climate change. Modernizing the grid supports the Governor’s proposed mandate for 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030 and goal to transition the state to a carbon-free power grid by 2040 as part of the Green New Deal.

“A critical component of the fight against climate change is making smart and efficient investments onto our electric grid,” Governor Cuomo said. “Modernizing New York’s grid will create long-lasting benefits for all New Yorkers through a more reliable and affordable system, while increasing resilience for extreme weather events and adding more renewable energy sources into our system.”

“New York is leading the nation in addressing the impact of climate change by supporting green technology and upgrades to our energy infrastructure,” said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. “By investing in the future of our electric grid, we are creating jobs and advancing our clean energy goals as part of the Green New Deal.”

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is administering the initiative through its High Performing Grid program that seeks proposals from electric grid technology companies, New York’s utilities, universities, and researchers, to advance smart grid technologies. These technologies diversify the supply of clean energy generation resources, enhance overall electric grid performance, and enable customers to reduce their energy costs, energy consumption, and environmental impacts. Through a two-step competitive process, applicants will submit concept papers that undergo a rigorous evaluation process. Based on those evaluations, a select group of projects will be invited to submit full proposals for further evaluation. Awarded projects will receive funding to move forward.

Concept papers will be reviewed on a continual basis and will be accepted through November 18, 2020, or until funds are exhausted. The request for proposals will have one of five categories: technology feasibility studies, research studies, engineering studies, product development, and demonstration projects. Proposals should include solutions that facilitate connecting clean energy resources to the grid; develop innovative data analytics; advanced planning, operations, and forecasting tools; or develop cybersecurity solutions for the modern grid, and demonstrate how they advance the State’s energy goals including how best to advance the state’s goal to have 70 percent of its electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2030.

Alicia Barton, President and CEO, NYSERDA said, “New York’s clean energy future requires a modernized electric grid that is capable of delivering Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading vision for a 100% carbon-free electricity system by 2040. This NYSERDA funding will support the deployment of innovative public-private partnerships to develop, pilot and test the smart grid technologies and solutions that will accelerate our pace to a fully decarbonized electricity system.”

Since 2016, NYSERDA has awarded approximately $17 million through 34 contracts focused on advancing New York’s electric grid through smart grid technologies aiding in the analysis of solar interconnections and the integration of energy storage, digital solutions, and advanced sensor applications. This includes a project led by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to solve technical challenges when connecting clean distributed energy resources to New York’s electric grid. EPRI’s work was made available to the New York Interconnection Technical Working Group and adopted into policy and procedures across New York. In total, $110 million is dedicated to modernizing New York’s electric grid through 2022. More information about this funding is available on NYSERDA’s website.

New York State’s Green New Deal

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Green New Deal, the nation’s leading clean energy and jobs agenda, will aggressively put New York State on a path to economy-wide carbon neutrality. This initiative will provide for a just transition to clean energy, spurring the growth of the green economy and mandating New York’s power be 100 percent clean and carbon-free by 2040, one of the most aggressive goals in the U.S. The cornerstone of this newly proposed mandate is a significant increase of New York’s successful Clean Energy Standard to 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030. As part of the unprecedented ramp-up of renewable energy, New York has already invested $2.9 billion into 46 large-scale renewable projects across the state as it significantly increases its clean energy targets, such as: quadrupling New York’s offshore wind target to a nation-leading 9,000 megawatts by 2035; doubling distributed solar deployment to 6,000 megawatts by 2025; and deploying 3,000 megawatts of energy storage by 2030. To support this ambitious work, NY Green Bank intends to use its expertise in overcoming financing gaps to foster greater environmental impacts per public dollar by raising over $1 billion in third party funds to expand climate financing availability across New York and the rest of North America.

 

About the Clean Energy Fund

The 10-year, $5.3 billion Clean Energy Fund (CEF) is a core component of New York State’s Reforming the Energy Vision strategy to achieve a clean, resilient and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers. The CEF includes a focused effort to bring more clean energy opportunities and benefits to low- to moderate-income communities and is designed to deliver on New York State’s commitment to accelerate the use of clean energy and energy innovation and drive economic development, while reducing ratepayer collections. NY Green Bank, a core component of the CEF, has generated $51.8 million in positive net income as a result of $637.6 million in investments in clean energy transactions across New York. The $1 billion NY-Sun initiative has already helped facilitate a nearly 1,500 percent increase in solar deployment since 2011. The CEF supports the proposed increase in New York’s Clean Energy Standard requiring 70 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2030 as part of Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading Green New Deal.

Author: Harlem Valley News