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NY — Power Infrastructure Updated January 2026

New York

NYISO Wind Solar Natural Gas Nuclear Storage Queue Bottlenecks Transmission Constraints

Overview

New York is pushing forward with offshore wind, a 2.5 GW pipeline of land-based renewables, and two major HVDC transmission lines to deliver upstate power into New York City. At the same time, the state has blocked major natural gas projects and the queue shows no nuclear proposals. The grid faces downstate reliability concerns and a 25 GW interconnection backlog.

Generation Projects

Wind

New York finalized offshore wind contracts in June 2024 for Empire Wind 1 (810 MW) and Sunrise Wind (924 MW), both planned to supply downstate load.[1]

In May 2025, the state executed contracts for 26 land-based renewable projects totaling more than 2.5 GW of planned capacity across upstate and western New York.[2]

Solar

The Office of Renewable Energy Siting issued a permit in July 2022 for Cider Solar, a 500 MW facility in Genesee County in western New York.[3]

Natural Gas

The Department of Environmental Conservation denied Title V air permits for two major gas projects in 2021:

  • Danskammer Energy Center in the Hudson Valley, blocking a large gas repower.[4]
  • Astoria Replacement Project (437 MW) in Queens, blocking a proposed simple-cycle peaker.[5]

These denials signal regulatory headwinds for new large-scale gas builds in New York.

Nuclear

The NYISO interconnection queue shows no nuclear projects as of the November 2025 queue update.[6]

Transmission and Grid

Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) is a 339-mile HVDC line designed to deliver 1,250 MW into New York City. The Public Service Commission approved construction plans in April 2024. The project runs 60 percent in waterways and 40 percent buried underground.[7][8]

Clean Path Transmission (CPNY) is a 178-mile, 1,300 MW, ±400 kV HVDC project from Delaware County to Queens. The route includes 131 miles underground and 47 miles submarine. The petition describes it as an upstate-to-downstate delivery path to address congestion and reliability.[9]

Empire State Line (ESL) is a 20-mile, 345 kV line in western New York with a transmission capability of about 3,700 MW. It strengthens the western 345 kV backbone supporting large load growth and renewable integration.[10]

Battery Storage

The Public Service Commission approved Ravenswood Energy Storage, a 316 MW battery facility in Queens with up to eight hours of storage capacity.[11]

The NYISO queue lists 24 standalone energy storage projects totaling about 2.0 GW of summer capacity, plus 17 additional projects with storage capability.[6]

Interconnection Queue

The NYISO interconnection queue (updated November 30, 2025) lists 402 active requests totaling about 25.4 GW of summer capacity. The largest categories by capacity are load requests at about 12.6 GW, solar at 5.4 GW, offshore wind at 1.74 GW, onshore wind at 1.62 GW, and energy storage at 1.99 GW.[6]

NYISO’s 2024 Reliability Needs Assessment identifies a New York City reliability need beginning in summer 2033 and declining statewide margins by 2034. This tightens timelines for large-load interconnections in downstate zones without new transmission.[12]

What to Watch

  • CHPE and Clean Path construction timelines — both are critical for delivering upstate renewables into downstate load zones.
  • How the 2.5 GW pipeline of land-based renewables moves through the NYISO queue and supports western New York load growth.
  • Whether the state approves any major natural gas or nuclear projects, or whether renewable + storage + transmission remains the only permitted buildout path.

Sources

[1] Governor Kathy Hochul, “Governor Hochul Announces the Finalization of New Contracts for Empire Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind,” June 4, 2024, https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-finalization-new-contracts-empire-wind-1-and-sunrise-wind (accessed 2026-01-08).

[2] Governor Kathy Hochul, “Governor Hochul Announces Executed Contracts for 26 Large-Scale Land-Based Renewable Energy Projects,” May 21, 2025, https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-executed-contracts-26-large-scale-land-based-renewable-energy (accessed 2026-01-08).

[3] New York Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES), “Siting Permit for a Major Renewable Energy Facility: Hecate Energy Cider Solar LLC (500 MW),” July 25, 2022, https://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/Common/ViewDoc.aspx?DocRefId=%7B7F526683-7197-4D6D-8179-6168A0A2C267%7D (accessed 2026-01-08).

[4] New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, “Statement from DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos on Denial of the Title V Permit for the Danskammer Energy Center,” October 27, 2021, https://dec.ny.gov/news/press-releases/2021/10/statement-from-dec-commissioner-basil-seggos-on-denial-of-the-title-v-permit-for-the-danskammer-energy-center (accessed 2026-01-08).

[5] New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, “Notice of Denial of Title V Air Permit: Astoria Gas Turbine Power, LLC (Astoria Replacement Project),” October 27, 2021, https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/docs/permits_ej_operations_pdf/nrgastoriadecision102721.pdf (accessed 2026-01-08).

[6] New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), “NYISO Interconnection Queue” (Excel dataset), last updated 2025-11-30 per queue file, https://www.nyiso.com/documents/20142/1407078/NYISO-Interconnection-Queue.xlsx (accessed 2026-01-08).

[7] New York State Department of Public Service, “PSC Approves Construction Plans for Multiple Segments of Champlain Hudson Power Express Project,” April 18, 2024, https://dps.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/04/pr24032.pdf (accessed 2026-01-08).

[8] Transmission Developers Inc. (CHPE), “Project Overview,” n.d., https://chpexpress.com/project-overview/ (accessed 2026-01-08).

[9] New York State Public Service Commission, “Petition Requesting Designation of Certain Transmission Investments as a Priority Transmission Project” (Case 20-E-0197), December 20, 2024, https://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/Common/ViewDoc.aspx?DocRefId=%7BB012E693-0000-C372-8B55-517D8C8DA1C6%7D (accessed 2026-01-08).

[10] Empire State Line (NY Transco), “Project Overview,” n.d., https://www.empirestateline.com/project-overview.html (accessed 2026-01-08).

[11] New York State Department of Public Service, “PSC Approves Ravenswood Energy Storage Project,” October 17, 2019, https://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/Common/ViewDoc.aspx?DocRefId=%7B4B80E981-860F-4AF2-9B02-0996D8E18536%7D (accessed 2026-01-08).

[12] New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), “2024 Reliability Needs Assessment,” November 19, 2024, https://www.nyiso.com/documents/20142/2248793/2024-RNA-Report.pdf (accessed 2026-01-08).