Stakeholders and advocates are sounding off for and against expedited review of the $5 billion-plus Clean Path transmission proposal that would feed power into New York City. 

Efforts to build the 175-mile underground HVDC line suffered a setback in late 2024 due to cancellation of a larger project in which it was packaged with 23 new wind and solar facilities in rural New York. (See $11B Transmission + Generation Plan Canceled in NY.) 

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is pressing ahead on its own with the transmission component. (See NYPA Files Petition with New York PSC to Save Clean Path Project.) 

NYPA is asking the state Public Service Commission (PSC) to designate Clean Path a priority transmission project (PTP) (Case 20-E-0197) in hopes of accelerating its development and speeding up the benefits it would provide to the environment and to grid reliability. (See NYPA Argues Clean Path Potential Benefits Outweigh Cost.) 

NYPA estimates the cost of Clean Path at $5.2 billion. It proposes allocating 60% of the cost to NYISO Zone J (New York City), which could reduce its reliance on fossil fuel generation and enjoy cleaner air thanks to Clean Path, and 40% to rest of the state on a load-share basis. 

The PSC solicited comments on NYPA’s request in February, and the window closed April 21; a spokesperson said April 22 the comments will be reviewed but there is no timetable yet for further action. 

In the comments, advocates for environmental quality and for organized labor generally argued in favor of priority status for the proposal while many in the energy sector raised objections. 

These objections often focused on the need or lack of need for Clean Path, and the fact that the proposal differs substantially from the one first submitted. 

The original project, called CPNY or Clean Path New York, was a public-private generation-transmission proposal by NYPA and Forward Energy that won a state contract for Tier 4 renewable energy certificates. The contract was terminated in November, the partnership was dissolved, and Clean Path now is transmission-only. 

Among the comments: 

National Grid Ventures said without the 3.8-GW suite of renewable generation projects originally envisioned for CPNY, Clean Path should not be granted priority status. It further said the project itself should not proceed without independent verification of its need. It concluded: “If the commission determines the project is required and that it should be granted PTP status, then NYPA should be ordered to competitively solicit proposals and reserve the right for the commission to approve who NYPA ultimately teams with for the project.” 

PSEG Long Island supports designation as a priority transmission project on the belief that, because NYPA’s cost of debt is lower and it is tax-exempt, development costs and costs to customers would be lower than if a private developer did the work. 

Independent Power Producers of New York noted that CPNY won its state contract through a competitive solicitation and argued the PSC should consider new competitive solicitations to avoid burdening ratepayers with unnecessary costs. It added that renewable energy development is behind schedule in New York. “Thus, any ‘urgency’ to complete the Clean Path project is an overreach at best and should not outweigh the commission’s long-established precedent that competitive solicitations ensure the lowest cost for consumers.” 

Alliance for Clean Energy New York supports priority designation as a way of addressing future reliability and transmission security deficiencies; reducing the need for more expensive local generation to meet the locational minimum installed capacity requirement in Zone J; and facilitating development of renewable resources upstate, where the HVDC line would originate. 

New York Transco — which is collaborating with NYPA on another major downstate transmission project, Propel NY Energy — said NYPA has not demonstrated that Clean Path meets the criteria for priority designation. It also questioned whether Clean Path could unbottle existing renewable capacity in the region and said NYPA has failed to support the cost recovery mechanism it proposed. 

Consolidated Edison Co. and four other utilities said the PSC should deny NYPA’s request because NYPA had not shown a need for urgency and its petition lacks sufficient analytical support. 

The president of a residents’ association at a public housing project near Clean Path’s planned southern terminus said her neighborhood long has been plagued by poor air quality from nearby fossil-burning plants and the new line would provide relief. “I respectfully ask the commission to approve this project and move it forward. Our community can’t wait any longer.” 

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, both New York Democrats, recited a list of benefits Clean Path is expected to offer and said priority status should be granted. 

Con Edison Transmission recited a list of deficiencies it said exist in the Clean Path petition and said priority status should not be granted. 

New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento said: “We support designating this project as a priority transmission project because it will create good union jobs and help achieve the state’s emissions reduction goals.” 

Multiple Intervenors, a collection of 55 large energy consumers statewide, faulted the 60-40 cost allocation split on several levels and urged a 75-25 split instead, placing most of the cost where most of the benefit would be realized: Zone J. And they said the 25% share should be spread across the entire state — not the rest of the state excluding New York City. 

New York City urged priority designation for Clean Path for all the benefits it would provide but urged transparency on the cost of the project. It said it does not object “for now” to footing 60% of the cost, but said the split should be revisited if power begins to flow from downstate to upstate. (New York’s vision is that offshore wind farms someday may accomplish this feat.) 

The city also wants clear indication that the 40% is to be spread across the rest of the state — not across the entire state including New York City. 

The Census Bureau estimates New York City is home to 42% of the state’s residents. 

NYISO estimates the generation mix on the New York City grid is almost 90% fossil-powered, while parts of the upstate grid are almost 90% emissions-free.