New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E), both subsidiaries of Avangrid Inc., a member of the Iberdrola Group, have filed their 2023 Distributed System Implementation Plan (DSIP) with the New York State Public Service Commission.
This plan presents the companies’ strategy and framework for supporting New York state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) and advancing clean energy solutions for customers.
“This plan lays a flexible foundation that will allow us to continue providing reliable and resilient power to our customers across the state as the New York electric grid becomes cleaner,” says Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO.
Among the most ambitious climate laws in the nation, New York’s CLCPA requires the state to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030. It also calls for 70% of the state’s electricity to be produced by renewable sources by 2030 and adding 10,000 MW of solar capacity and 9,000 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2035.
NYSEG and RG&E’s 2023 DSIP focuses on building a foundation for the energy transition and elaborates on continued investments in several key areas, including grid automation, energy storage, integrated system planning and distribution grid operations.
Energy storage, whether connected to the grid or located on customer premises, can lower energy costs by providing short-term back-up power. In addition, a battery’s ability to store and shift the use of intermittent renewable generation from sources like wind and solar means that energy storage can also help meet clean energy goals without sacrificing reliability. NYSEG and RG&E are working to incorporate energy storage into integrated system planning functions, non-wire alternatives procurements, interconnection processes and grid operations.
Dramatic and transformative changes occurring in the electric grid require utilities to plan and operate their system differently. A higher level of granular data and visibility at the grid edge will be required. NYSEG and RG&E’s Grid Model Enhancement Project is improving the companies’ data models to better analyze, plan and forecast electric distribution system needs as the number of distributed energy resources (DER), such as wind or solar, rapidly increases. Real time data will help NYSEG and RG&E’s Energy Control Center to monitor distribution system operations to maintain customer reliability and help the companies improve integration of DERs.
