skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Meeting Clean-Energy Goals Means Transmission Upgrades

play audio
Play

Monday, June 29, 2020   

ALBANY, N.Y. -- In 10 years, New York will be getting 70% of its electric power from renewable sources, so clean-energy advocates are discussing how to send that power where it's needed.

Solar and wind farms and offshore wind now in the planning stages now need transmission infrastructure, but much of New York's existing electrical grid was built more than half a century ago.

Anne Reynolds is executive director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York; she pointed out that in just a few years, the limits of the current grid could start slowing down clean-energy development.

"There's a sense of urgency now to talk about the transmission we need and to plan for the grid of the future, knowing that it will take maybe five years to get those projects under construction," Reynolds said.

The New York State Public Service Commission recently released a new proposed plan for achieving the renewable-energy mandate put into state law in 2019.

In April, New York also passed the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth Act. Reynolds said that requires the state to determine the combination of new renewables, new transmission and energy storage needed to meet clean-energy goals.

"That study's happening now," she said. "It's got two parts: all we need for upstate New York and what we need for offshore wind. And the study's supposed to be completed by the end of the calendar year."

Last week more than 200 New Yorkers logged in to a virtual town-hall meeting hosted by ACE New York to discuss the need for greater transmission capability in the state.

Participants in that meeting raised concerns about preserving open space and farmland. But Reynolds noted much of the increased capacity can be achieved without creating new transmission corridors.

"We would aim to have this transmission be in existing rights of way as much as possible," she said. "So you wouldn't be developing new green fields to build this transmission necessarily. You can upgrade existing lines to make them be able to move more power."

She said simply making much of the electrical grid stronger and more resilient will help New York state achieve its renewable-energy goals.

Disclosure: Alliance for Clean Energy New York, Inc. contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy & Priorities, Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, Environment. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021