By William Opalka

A labor council representing New York utility workers is worried that the state’s path-breaking initiatives in the smart grid, distributed energy resources and energy storage are taking attention away from overdue needs for transmission upgrades in the state.

A so-called Memorandum of Concerns, while endorsing the new “utility paradigm” of New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision, said that the program needs extensive transmission upgrades to succeed. (See New York PSC Bars Utility Ownership of Distributed Energy Resources.)

“While these initiatives have provided benefit to New York ratepayers and thrust New York state to the forefront of the electric industry, the transmission infrastructure these elements are connected to have been greatly neglected,” said Theodore Skerpon, chairman of the 15,000-member New York State International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Utility Labor Council, in a March 20 filing with the PSC (12-T-0502).

“The primary foundation of REV is the ability to efficiently move electricity across the state to determine an accurate cost-benefit analysis for proposed local generators,” the memo adds.

The memo points out that 80% of the state’s high-voltage transmission lines are at least 35 years old and that 4,700 circuit miles will require replacement within the next 30 years. Upstate New York generation is needed to supply demand but is constrained by transmission bottlenecks.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled the New York Energy Highway to address those issues in 2012, building upon his administration’s own assessment and studies by NYISO and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The initiative is envisioned as a public-private partnership to spur at least $2 billion in private investment to expand or upgrade transmission corridors from upstate generating plants to load centers in and around New York City.

PSC Spokesman James Denn said REV and the Energy Highway are proceeding in tandem, as the PSC in December said it will determine the need for relief of persistent transmission congestion along the Mohawk and Hudson Valley transmission corridors. A technical conference will be convened in mid-2015 to identify the scope of the problem. (See New York PSC Orders Study, Conference on Transmission Congestion.) New York has identified the need for about 1,000 MW of additional capacity but has not named specific projects (13-M-0457).

“Staff’s need report is expected to be issued on or before June 10, 2015, followed closely by the all-parties technical conference to ensure that all parties can raise questions about its recommendations. The proceeding remains very active, with parties, including staff, submitting well over 100 critically important documents since December,” he said.