The New York Independent System Operator’s Board of Directors has approved the 2007 Comprehensive Reliability Plan for New York’s bulk electricity grid. According to the CRP report, planned transmission system upgrades and proposed market-based solutions, if built, will meet or exceed reliability requirements through 2016.

“The CRP is an integral element of the NYISO’s ongoing efforts to address the dynamic needs of New York’s bulk electricity power system and to maintain reliable supplies of electricity to New York residents,” said NYISO President and CEO Mark S. Lynch.

The CRP report is the culmination of the NYISO’s Comprehensive Reliability Planning Process (CRPP), which provides a plan for meeting the reliability needs of the state’s bulk electricity grid over a 10-year planning horizon.

In response to its 2007 Reliability Needs Assessment (RNA), released in March as the first stage of the CRPP cycle, the NYISO has received viable proposals for market-based solutions to the reliability needs set forth in the RNA.

Following its evaluation of all proposed solutions, the NYISO’s 2007 CRP consists of the following actions:

• Deferring retirement of the New York Power Authority’s Charles A. Poletti generating facility in Queens from 2009 to 2010;
• Implementing updated plans submitted by the transmission owners, including the addition of a 240 mVar capacitor bank at the Millwood substation, and a breaker replacement at the Gowanus substation;
• Developing 1800 MW of market-based resources from the 3007 MW of proposed merchant generation and transmission projects. At least 1000 MW should be located in or have unforced capacity delivery rights into New York City. Another 500 MW should be located in the lower Hudson Valley area. The remaining 300 MW could be located anywhere in the state.

The CRP report states that other configurations of resources, such as locating more resources in the Hudson Valley, could also satisfy the reliability needs.

The report also states that, at this time, New York need not implement “regulated backstop solutions” offered by Transmission Owners or “alternative regulated solutions” submitted by other developers.

While noting that it has received market-based proposals that are over 1000 MW in excess of the minimum requirements, the CRP report notes that the NYISO does not choose which of the proposed market-based solutions will be built. The developers offering these proposals, along with state siting and permitting agencies, will make those determinations.

The NYISO has identified a number of risk factors that could adversely affect the plan, including the absence of a “one-stop” siting process, the preference of many market-based generation developers for long-term contracts, fuel diversity concerns, dependence on capacity from neighboring regions, and the potential for additional plant retirements due to pending changes in environmental rules and regulations. The NYISO will closely monitor all risk factors through its planning process.

The development status of proposed market-based solutions are monitored and updated twice a year by the NYISO. If it is determined that the proposed generation and transmission projects will not be available when needed, the NYISO will make that finding in the next RNA, and again will seek market-based and regulated solutions to assure reliability for inclusion in the next CRP.