Governor Cuomo Announces $5 Million Available to Support Modernization of New York’s Electric Grid
State Seeking Proposals to Help Modernize New York’s Electric Grid and Support the Integration of Clean Energy Resources to Improve Resiliency
Supports Green New Deal – a Nation-Leading Clean Energy and Jobs Agenda That Puts New York State on a Path to Carbon Neutrality
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that $5 million is available for projects that will help New York integrate renewable energy resources in ways that will improve the resiliency of the electric grid. Project proposals will be evaluated based on how they improve overall grid performance, reduce energy costs and support the state’s nation-leading clean energy goals to combat climate change. This announcement supports Governor Cuomo’s Green New Deal proposal to achieve 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and transition the state to a carbon-free power grid by 2040.
“New York is leading by example in the fight against climate change, and modernizing our electric grid is a critical component of our path to clean energy and carbon neutrality,” Governor Cuomo said. “These smart investments in New York’s electric grid will enable the integration of renewable resources that improve resiliency, ensuring a secure, reliable system for years to come.”
“We are making continued investments to upgrade the state’s power grid, making it more advanced and efficient,” said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. “We want to ensure that our power system is smarter and more resilient so we are prepared when extreme weather strikes. Modernizing our infrastructure and electric grid further advances our aggressive efforts to reach our clean energy goals for a cleaner and safer environment.”
This funding focuses on developing and enhancing technologies that will successfully integrate and connect renewable resources, such as wind and solar, to New York’s electric grid. This program complements the $30 million announced last month by Governor Cuomo to support the development and improvement of technologies, including automation and transmission renewable energy resources.
Funding is being offered through NYSERDA’s Smart Grid and Distributed Energy Resource Integration Program and is available for entrepreneurs, clean energy companies and researchers with solutions to connect and integrate renewable resources faster and more effectively. This funding supports product development, demonstration and commercialization of innovative technologies that lower costs and increase speed for connected renewable generation to the electric grid. Proposals should focus on low cost monitoring and control, preventing back-feed from storage systems, and smart inverter functions. All proposals must be received by NYSERDA no later than August 15, 2019.
Alicia Barton, President and CEO, NYSERDA said, “Clean distributed energy resources such as wind, solar and storage are critical to achieving a cleaner and more efficient electric grid. Governor Cuomo’s ambitious energy goals emphasize the critical need for innovative technologies that allow for the integration of renewables into our electric system so we can continue building the grid of the future.”
Assembly Energy Chair Michael Cusick said, “Investing in budding clean energy technologies is a smart move that will better prepare us for our renewable energy future. Building a smarter, more responsive energy grid will enable us to more rapidly remove bottlenecks in transmission, reduce the curtailment of renewable energy, and improve the overall reliability of the system.”
Proposals will be accepted in three project categories: engineering studies, product development projects and demonstration projects. The proposals will undergo a rigorous evaluation process that will be scored, ranked and awarded based on evaluation criteria.
Concept papers for these High Performing Grid proposals focus on efficiently moving clean energy through the grid by developing innovative data analytics; advanced planning, operations, and forecasting tools; and development of cybersecurity solutions for the modern grid.
Since 2016, NYSERDA has awarded approximately $25 million through 55 contracts focused on advancing New York’s electric grid. In a recently completed project, NYSERDA worked with O’Brien and Gere who developed a web-based analytical tool to reduce the cost and time required by utilities to handle Distributed Energy Resource interconnection applications, particularly for larger and more complex distributed energy projects. The tool is now being used by O’Brien and Gere after case studies were presented to National Grid and Central Hudson for feedback and accuracy. In total, $110 million under the Clean Energy Fund Grid Modernization Investment Plan is dedicated to modernizing New York’s electric grid through 2022. More information about this funding is available on NYSERDA’s website.
New York State’s Green New Deal
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Green New Deal, the nation’s leading clean energy and jobs agenda, will aggressively put New York State on a path to economy-wide carbon neutrality. This initiative will provide for a just transition to clean energy, spurring the growth of the green economy and mandating New York’s power be 100 percent clean and carbon-free by 2040, one of the most aggressive goals in the U.S. The cornerstone of this newly proposed mandate is a significant increase of New York’s successful Clean Energy Standard to 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030. As part of the unprecedented ramp-up of renewable energy, New York has already invested $2.9 billion into 46 large-scale renewable projects across the state as it significantly increases its clean energy targets, such as: quadrupling New York’s offshore wind target to a nation-leading 9,000 megawatts by 2035; doubling distributed solar deployment to 6,000 megawatts by 2025; and deploying 3,000 megawatts of energy storage by 2030. To support this ambitious work, NY Green Bank intends to use its expertise in overcoming financing gaps to foster greater environmental impacts per public dollar by raising over $1 billion in third party funds to expand climate financing availability across New York and the rest of North America.
About the Clean Energy Fund
The 10-year, $5.3 billion Clean Energy Fund (CEF) is a core component of New York State’s Reforming the Energy Vision strategy to achieve a clean, resilient and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers. The CEF includes a focused effort to bring more clean energy opportunities and benefits to low- to moderate-income communities and is designed to deliver on New York State’s commitment to accelerate the use of clean energy and energy innovation and drive economic development, while reducing ratepayer collections. NY Green Bank, a core component of the CEF, has generated $44.4 million in positive net income as a result of $581.9 million in investments in clean energy transactions across New York. The $1 billion NY-Sun initiative has already helped facilitate a more than 1,000 percent increase in solar deployment since 2011. The CEF supports New York’s ambitious Clean Energy Standard requiring 70 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2030.