NYISO Deems Reliability in New York Safe—With Caveats

A reliability plan approved by the board of directors of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) on Friday concludes that additional transmission and generation resources will be needed during the study period (2013–2022) to meet system reliability criteria, but several factors could raise new impacts on reliability. These include retirement of more generation units for economic or environmental reasons, or if the Indian Point reactor’s licenses were not renewed.

The 2012 Comprehensive Reliability Plan (CRP) is part of NYISO’s process to provide a blueprint for meeting reliability needs of the state’s bulk electricity grid over a 10-year planning horizon. In September, NYISO issued the 2012 Reliability Needs Assessment (RNA) identifying transmission security violations that could manifest as soon as 2013, and resource adequacy violations that could occur by 2020. To address these needs, NYISO requested market-based, regulated backstop, and alternative regulated solutions.

According to the CRP, market-based solutions to the resource adequacy needs include NRG’s proposal to repower its Astoria plant and provide a net capacity increase of 405 MW in the New York City region, Constellation NewEnergy’s proposal to increase demand response by 30 MW in the New York City region, and NRG’s proposal to repower the Dunkirk plant with 440 MW of capacity in the Western New York region, which would replace existing generation at the site and could address reliability issues in the area.

Risk factors identified that could affect implementation of the plan and system reliability over the decade-long planning horizon include delays by grid owners to proceed on transmission plans, financing, future market conditions, and interconnection requirements.

The retirement of more generating units beyond those already considered in the 2012 RNA for either economic or environmental reasons could "raise additional, adverse impacts on reliability beyond those identified in the CRP," NYISO said.

Critically, if Entergy’s Indian Point nuclear power plant’s licenses are not renewed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the plant were to retire by the end of 2015 or thereafter, "this would result in immediate transmission security and resource adequacy criteria violations unless sufficient replacement resources are in place prior to retirement," it said.

Sources: POWERnews, NYISO