NYISO ended the Operating Committee’s meeting April 17 with a surprise announcement: The ISO no longer is concerned about a violation of reliability criteria in New York City in 2033 and has canceled its search for a solution.

Zack Smith, senior vice president of system and resource planning, told the committee that updates to assumptions used in demand forecasting and demographic trends had eliminated the need over the 10-year horizon. Margins still are shrinking because of plant retirements, he said, but not enough to trigger the reliability need.

NYISO officially made the declaration in November 2024 as part of its 2024 Reliability Needs Assessment. It triggered a process in which the ISO solicits solutions, including transmission-based from the local transmission owners, and generation and demand response from market participants. (See NYISO Publishes Final RNA Showing Reliability Need for NYC.)

Kevin Lang, a partner with Couch White who represents the city at the ISO, asked if the forecast included the completion of Empire Wind 1, an offshore wind project that just the day before was ordered to halt construction by the Trump administration. (See Feds Move to Halt Construction of Empire Wind 1.)

Smith affirmed that it was and that NYISO was confident that even a “significant delay” would not have changed the finding. And even if the project ultimately does not go forward, it would not significantly impact the ISO’s reliability margins, he said.

There will be a full discussion of the findings at the Electric System Planning Working Group’s next meeting, scheduled for May 6, Smith said.