ALBANY, N.Y. — Earthjustice claimed that NYISO’s latest annual “Power Trends” report was full of misleading statements that favor new natural gas generation in a letter July 7 to New York state officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul. 

“The ‘Power Trends’ report is not based on new information or analysis but is rather a summary of prior NYISO reports and analysis, none of which found that fossil-fired generation is necessary for reliability or that repowering aging power plants is beneficial for New York or the grid,” Earthjustice wrote. “Instead, it seems that NYISO is irresponsibly seeking to create a false narrative that New York needs new gas generation, even though there is no evidence to support that claim.” 

The organization noted that NYISO had not made any new finding of a reliability need and called into question its concerns about large load additions, arguing that “many recent reports have noted the uncertainty of those speculative new loads.” 

“NYISO is using reliability as a way to justify more gas infrastructure, even though their own analysis shows no new reliability need exists,” wrote Eric Walker, energy justice senior policy manager for WE ACT for Environmental Justice, who co-signed the letter. “Meanwhile, clean energy projects that could save New Yorkers billions are stuck in NYISO’s interconnection queue. Delaying renewables and expanding gas infrastructure isn’t just bad policy; NYISO’s false narrative puts environmental justice communities further in harm’s way.” 

The report, released June 2, included a section outlining the case for the refurbishment and repowering of old power plants, though it did not favor any particular resource. (See NYISO Makes Case for Repowering in Latest ‘Power Trends’ Report.) 

“We encourage every policymaker to read ‘Power Trends’ for a fact-based assessment of electric system reliability, climate policy advancement and economic development,” Kevin Lanahan, NYISO vice president of external affairs and corporate communications, said in a statement. “‘Power Trends’ suggests that repowering of all aging resource types — renewable and fossil — be examined to determine the opportunity for capacity additions, efficiency and carbon reductions.” 

Rachel Spector, deputy managing attorney for Earthjustice, said the organization had noticed signs of backsliding on New York’s climate law from local officials.  

“We are starting to hear from agency folks the idea that we need to start thinking about repowering gas plants or adding new gas generation,” Spector said. “It seems like it was clearly in response to ‘Power Trends.’” 

Spector said Earthjustice has “real concerns” about New York’s commitment to meeting its clean energy goals and the requirements of the climate law.  

“We don’t want to deny that there are major issues we have to figure out in the coming years with the grid, but there are a lot of things we could be doing, like speeding up renewables,” Spector said. 

The letter, also signed by representatives of the Environmental Defense Fund and Evergreen Action, notes that the report says the interconnection queue contains nearly 350 proposals, with nearly 50,000 MW of proposed clean resources. 

Lanahan cited the Alliance for Clean Energy New York’s support of NYISO’s recent interconnection changes for reducing the wait time in its queue. 

ACE NY Executive Director Marguerite Wells told RTO Insider that the report showed the state is not deploying resources fast enough, and the organization hopes NYISO’s “significant reforms” will save time as the process matures. 

“But it is not enough to reform one process, especially in the wake of federal hostility,” Wells said. “To fully realize the immense benefits that renewable energy projects can bring, we need all state agencies to work together. NYISO has shown that new generating sources are needed in the coming years. Wind and solar power are the resources that can be online in the shortest time.” 

Wells said “red tape” should not force the state to rely on “technologies of the past” when renewables are ready to go. 

Hochul’s office did not respond to a request for comment by press time.