Episode 26 of the Power Trends podcast delivers a change of pace for our listeners. In this episode, NYISO market mitigation economist Michelle Merlis discusses her long and challenging path to becoming a world-class trail runner. While Michelle's early years found her on the basketball court, she discovered her passion for competitive running while earning a master’s degree in agricultural economics at Purdue University. After graduating from Purdue in 2012, she moved to the Capital Region and joined the Albany Running Exchange. After completing more than two dozen races and covering hundreds of trail miles, she accomplished something she never thought was possible.“How I found myself here is both simple and wildly complex… it was the culmination of years of hard work and consistent progress…” In April 2022, Michelle ran and won the women’s division of the Breakneck Point Trail Marathon which secured her a spot on the U.S. National Team at the World Mountain & Trail Running Championships in Thailand.  Keep pace with Michelle's remarkable journey by listening to the latest episode of the Power Trends podcast.Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

“The objective is the reliability of the grid,” VP of System & Resource Planning Zach Smith says about the process his group oversees studying the impacts of connecting new electric resources to the grid. Because of state policies and technological advancements, more developers are seeking to connect to the grid, creating more demands on the New York ISO in overseeing the study process.Smith is a frequent guest of the Power Trends podcast. His conversations on grid planning, reliability, and resource interconnection are routinely among the most popular of our series. In this episode, he discusses how the NYISO is required to study the impacts of new resources like large wind, solar and battery storage facilities seeking to connect to the electric system.“It’s being able to integrate new resources onto the grid as we transition to a renewable future,” he says. “That means that as we connect these new resources, we analyze their impact, and identify upgrades to maintain the performance of the system.”State and federal clean energy policies are driving a dramatic increase in clean energy projects entering the Interconnection Queue, where they will be studied for feasibility and grid reliability impacts. The process requires the expertise of many of the NYISO’s most skilled engineers and analysts. “It’s something I take great pride in: the talent in the team and experts we have,” says Smith. “But we also have a lot of challenges ahead of us.”The Interconnection Queue has experienced change. A few years ago, it was typical to see between one and two hundred resources applying. Today, the Interconnection Queue contains nearly 500 proposals. Factors driving this historic growth include New York’s requirement of a zero-emissions grid by 2040, new incentives to build new solar, wind, and storage resources, and public policy needs that incentivize new transmission investment. In this podcast, Smith discusses the three successive studies that examine the impact of each new resource, as well as their collective impact and the potential need for system upgrades. The process involves continuous collaboration between the developers, local utilities, and the NYISO. Some project proposals are more fully realized than others. Sometimes a resource will elect to drop out of the process, requiring a new round of studies, adding to the time it takes for all remaining resources to get to the end. The NYISO has several initiatives underway to make the process more efficient and user-friendly for applicants. “The technology continues to change,” Smith said. “We’re working hard here in New York to keep things moving along.” Additional Resources & InformationWhitepaper: The NYISO Interconnection ProcessPress Release:  NYISO Completes Interconnection Study Process to Connect New Resources to the Electric GridExplainer:  How New Electric Resources Connect to the GridLearn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

In our latest Power Trends Podcast, we interview two leading Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts about the impact of wholesale natural gas prices on winter electricity costs in New York.We spoke to Dr. Tyler Hodge, Senior Economist in the Office of Energy Analysis, and Corrina Ricker, a Certified Data Scientist on the Natural Gas Markets team, to dive into the findings of EIA’s latest Short Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Hodge said that he expects electricity prices in New York in 2023 to be about 10% higher than in 2022, which is in line with the U.S. overall. “The fuel cost is the biggest driver to wholesale prices,” he said.In a conversation with the NYISO published earlier this year, Hodge and Ricker explained the relationship between fuel costs and energy prices, and how recent geopolitical factors, like the war in Ukraine, and pandemic-related slowdowns, helped to create low energy supplies. Supplies are rebounding, they said, but demand is also up nationally.In this recent interview, Ricker also said that increased global demand for natural gas, followed by U.S. exports of liquid natural gas to Europe are driving electric prices higher. Colder-than-average temperatures predicted for the next few months could also have an upward impact on prices through the heating season, she said. While the amount of electricity coming from renewables continues to rise nationally and in New York, natural gas remains the largest source of generation, they added. About the U.S. Energy Information AdministrationThe EIA collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policy making, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment. Read their Short-Term Energy Outlook.Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

Every five minutes, 24 hours a day, electricity in New York State is bought and sold through competitive wholesale electric markets administered by the NYISO. And while we may not think about electricity the same way we do about other products and services, competitive wholesale electric markets are truly dynamic, with hundreds of buyers and sellers, or “market participants,” involved in the process of meeting consumer demand for power at the least cost available. But how do we make sure that prices in these electric markets are fair and that all market participants act according to the rules and requirements?That’s where Shaun Johnson and his team come in.As the NYISO’s Director of Market Mitigation and Analysis, Shaun Johnson leads a group of 25 electricity markets experts who “police” the system, protecting consumers by making sure prices accurately reflect operating conditions and generator costs.To meet its goal, the Market Mitigation and Analysis (MMA) team examines data detailing market transactions and operating behaviors of generating assets to verify that consumer prices reflect competitive market circumstances. If they detect anomalies or a trend that raises questions, they possess the ability to investigate and request additional information from market participants.Johnson, the subject of our latest Power Trends podcast, is an economist who oversees a team of mathematicians, computer scientists, former energy traders, and technicians with years of experience in power plant and energy industry operations. In short, the team is responsible for evaluating the performance of the markets and identifying attempts to exercise market power.Team members even crisscross the state regularly to visit generators and observe their operations first-hand. This helps team members understand and verify trading or bidding behavior in the markets later on. “Less than one-half of one percent of our market outcomes end up requiring action,” Johnson is quick to point out. “But those sanctions, or penalties, have resulted in just over $13 million dollars being refunded back to New York consumers in the last three years.” In keeping with the important independence, the NYISO MMA group and an external Market Monitoring Unit (MMU) work independently and collaboratively to protect consumers and participants in the ISO-administered markets. Together, these guardians of the grid report not only to the NYISO’s Board of Directors, but also to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates the industry. Johnson noted that electric prices are expected to continue to rise this winter due to spikes in global demand for fossil fuels that are lagging supply, as well as global instability caused by the war in Ukraine and economic instability across Europe.Wholesale, competitive markets remain the best way to make sure consumers receive the least possible price for their electricity, even in the face of rising fossil fuel costs, Johnson notes. And the MMA team, acting as sheriff of these markets, makes sure these prices are achieved fairly; especially when prices rise.Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

The NYISO recently released a new report that identifies the unprecedented level of electrical system investment necessary to achieve New York State’s climate policy requirements. Developed in collaboration with stakeholders and state agencies, the 2021-2040 System and Resource Outlook (the Outlook) uses various scenarios to identify potential pathways for transmission and supply investments that will support a reliable transition of the electric grid. In our latest Power Trends podcast, NYISO Vice President for System and Resource Planning Zach Smith explains the potential impacts of the changing resource mix on the needs of the electric grid to maintain reliability. State policies, like the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019, are having profound impacts on the electric system and decisions for system investments to keep the lights on.System planning has always been a vital part of what we do, along with managing New York’s electric grid reliability and wholesale competitive markets. The NYISO is required to study the electric system for potential risks to meeting stringent reliability rules and make recommendations on how to maintain grid reliability into the future.   “I’m really proud of the work our team has done to consider different scenarios and identify the actions we all need to be taking now,” Smith said. “The intent is to give policymakers and stakeholders a view of the future that considers the physical constraints of the system so we can make informed investment decisions that preserve grid reliability.”By simulating different future system configurations and forecasting the transmission constraints for each, we were able to identify the following key findings:State climate mandates are driving the need for unprecedented levels of new generation capacity to achieve decarbonization and maintain system reliability.Electrification of buildings and transportation driven by state policies is one of the largest factors driving rapid increases in peak and annual energy demand. Significant increases in new resource and transmission development will be required to achieve CLCPA targets. Dispatchable Emission-Free Resources (DEFRs) must be developed and deployed at scale well before 2040 to achieve an emission-free grid.Ultimately, preparing for a zero-emissions electric grid by 2040, as directed by state policy, will require a variety of solutions. Examples include new transmission, significant build-out of renewable and storage resources, and the use of Dispatchable Emissions-Free Resources (DEFRs). DEFRs will be needed to replace current fossil-fueled generators to respond quickly to changing system conditions and be able to supply the grid for extended periods. DEFR technologies are not yet commercially viable but must be developed and added to the system at scale to reliably serve demand when intermittent generation from wind and solar is unavailable and supply from storage resources is depleted. The lead time necessary for research, development, permitting, and construction of DEFR supply will require action well in advance of 2040 if state policy mandates under the CLCPA are to be achieved.“We’re talking about policies and goals that are in 2040, and may feel like a long way off,” Smith said. “But we need to think about all of these factors today.”For more, download Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

In our latest Power Trends Podcast, we interviewed two leading U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts about domestic and international price trends and how world energy supply and demand are impacting wholesale electricity prices in New York.  We spoke to Dr. Tyler Hodge, Senior Economist in the Office of Energy Analysis, and Corrina Ricker, a Certified Data Scientist on the Natural Gas Markets team, to dive into the findings of EIA’s latest Short Term Energy Outlook (STEO).Hodge explained the relationship between fuel costs and energy prices, and how recent geopolitical factors are creating uncertainty about energy supply. Ricker also explained the relationship between the economic slowdown resulting from the pandemic and how the demand for natural gas has more recently outpaced the growth in supply, leading to higher prices. Both analysts also shared price forecasts in the STEO based on various economic data for the next several months and discussed the expected growth of clean energy resources on a national basis.About the U.S. Energy Information Administration The EIA collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment. Read their Short-Term Energy Outlook.Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

It’s going to take time and precision to build the grid of the future. Managing reliability carefully and investing in the right technologies as we transition to a grid increasingly based on clean energy will be key to success. These are the messages of Dr. Karen Wayland, a noted policy expert who focuses on the path to grid modernization and infrastructure improvements aimed at a cleaner, more efficient, more secure #gridofthefuture. Wayland is CEO of GridWise Alliance , an organization made up of energy utilities and technology leaders. She was recently interviewed by Kevin Lanahan, NYISO Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications, for our latest Power Trends podcast. In the wide-ranging conversation, Wayland explores the diverse technology portfolio necessary to deliver a modernized grid, including new transmission, distributed resources, and smart energy communication systems. Specifically, Wayland sees “autonomous healing” grid technology as a way to address outages caused by extreme weather.  In the future she sees tools on the electric system that can automatically reroute power when a line is down to reduce the impact away from concentrated populations, for example.  “Reliability can't be compromised,” she said. “And we also can't compromise that affordability part of grid modernization… If we are going to get to a decarbonized, flexible grid, we have to be smart about understanding what the best return on that investment's going to be.”For more on the market changes that will help bring New York to a clean-energy future, listen now.For more about how we are addressing a zero-emissions grid with market-based solutions, visit the 2040 Power Grid webpage.  Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

Our stakeholders recently approved changes to market rules which, if accepted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will help us meet New York’s zero-emissions mandates by supporting new investments in energy resources.The proposal was created to make it easier for clean-energy resources such as solar or wind to take part in the competitive, wholesale markets that serve the New York grid. The project was overwhelmingly supported by stakeholders, following months of discussion on how to reconcile capacity market rules with the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.Why is this change important, how did it come about, and how will it help bring us to a zero-emissions grid by 2040? Vice President for External Affairs and Corporate Communications Kevin Lanahan recently interviewed two of the primary authors of the proposal, also known as Comprehensive Mitigation Reform, for our latest Power Trends podcast. He spoke to Director of Market Design Mike DeSocio, and Manager of Capacity Market Design Zach T. Smith.“What we’re really focused on is making sure resources that are participating in the wholesale, competitive markets are treated fairly and can compete on a level playing field,” said DeSocio. DeSocio explained further: buyer-side mitigation (BSM) rules were created to make sure that no single resource could have an unfair competitive advantage over another, including out-of-market payments. But many new wind and solar resources entering the market receive government subsidies because of their clean-energy attributes. Without reform, current BSM rules could limit how these clean energy resources could compete in the wholesale markets. The concern was that existing rules could make electricity more expensive and limit new investment in clean energy.  Our new reforms, if approved by federal regulators, will make sure this doesn’t happen. “It took a lot of work to get there,” DeSocio noted. “But we ended up with a proposal that balances all the various needs.” Another important component of these reforms is what is known as resource capacity accreditation, explained Smith. Accreditation values the contribution each resource has toward reliability. Battery storage, for instance, will be more important in the future because it can provide the flexible power, we’ll need to offset clean energy when the wind stops blowing or the sun doesn’t shine.  “Our proposal,” Smith says, “will reflect that increase in value of these resources as the system changes.”By adding this value, capacity accreditation will help maintain the right investment signals for new resource developers, he said. For more on the market changes that will help bring New York to a clean-energy future, listen now.For more about how we are addressing a zero-emissions grid with market-based solutions, visit the 2040 Power Grid webpage.  Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

We’ve just released a new report, the Comprehensive Reliability Plan (CRP), which looks at the New York energy grid over the next 10 years and determines if there are any factors that could impact our ability to keep the lights on for all. While the report declared there are no immediate risks, Vice President of System & Resource Planning Zach Smith says the future of the grid is not so simple. To safely and responsibly tackle climate change impacts to the power grid, one must consider multiple factors together in thinking about decarbonization and planning. “We have a shifting resource mix of generation. We need to be mindful of how this big machine called the electric grid continues to operate,” Smith told Kevin Lanahan, Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications, during an interview for our Power Trends Podcast. One issue, Smith said, is that as new resources come onto the grid, such as wind or solar power, older, less efficient power plants will retire. The “spinning mass” of fossil fuel-fired plants provides a reliable source of electricity that can offset the intermittent nature of solar and wind resources, which are limited due to weather and time of day. Losing oil and gas plants will require replacement by other energy resources that can offset these intermittent resources. “We’re already seeing changes on the grid. That’s going to have a real impact: some of them positive, some of them negative,” Smith said. “We’re very concerned that if we experience a heat wave, a polar vortex, our projections show we could come up short.”For more about how we are addressing a zero-emissions grid with market-based solutions, visit the 2040 Power Grid webpage.  Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

When Wes Yeomans speaks, people in the energy industry listen. The Vice President of Operations, Wes has three decades of energy industry experience, including more than 10 years at the NYISO. In this podcast, he tells Kevin Lanahan, Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications, about how we performed in managing the electric grid last summer, our preparations for the winter ahead, and how we’re planning for a zero-emissions grid of the future.This summer saw extreme weather around the nation, with monster fires on the West Coast and unprecedented heat in the Pacific Northwest. Here in New York, tropical storms included one that brought tragic flooding to New York City; but thankfully did not involve significant difficulties in grid operations.Extreme weather from climate change is an increasing factor in grid operations, combined with the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which calls for significant growth of solar and wind. This includes significant offshore wind development taking shape, and the recent announcement by Governor Hochul to expand the NY Sun program to 10 gigawatts of distributed solar resources by 2030. These distributed resources displace the amount of energy that must be supplied by the transmission system that the NYISO operates. As energy production from renewable resources is dependent on weather, our grid operators must be able to predict the output of these resources in order to maintain reliability on the transmission system, he said. “We can be off 10% today,” he said, noting that solar and wind still make up a relatively small amount of grid supply. “If we’re off 10% three years from now, that could be a couple of thousands of megawatts. So we have to be very good, and be prepared.”Another significant change Wes discusses is the rise in electric vehicles, and trends to move from oil and natural gas to electric heat in buildings, especially downstate. The combined effects of these change, Wes said, is the likelihood that New York will change from a state that experiences its peak power demand in the summer (primarily a result of air conditioning use) to one which sees peak demand occurring in the winter.For more about how we are addressing a zero-emissions grid with market-based solutions, visit the 2040 Power Grid webpage.   Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

Gil C. Quiniones, President & CEO of the New York Power Authority (NYPA), has transformed the organization and he has a lot to say about the grid of the future. The internationally-recognized leader in the power industry oversees a quarter of New York’s energy generation and a third of its transmission. The organization recently launched its 10-year, Vision2030 strategic plan, and is pushing with numerous other efforts to upgrade its facilities with the most cutting-edge technology to help meet New York’s CLCPA clean energy targets.“It's really a moment in time of growth and investment in our state,” he told Kevin Lanahan, Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications, during a conversation for our Power Trends Podcast. Vision2030 calls for aggressively building out NYPA’s transmission system, preserving the value of its hydroelectric resources, transitioning its downstate gas generation to low to zero carbon emission resources, and helping customers reduce fossil fuel use in their own operations. NYPA is working with the PEAK Coalition (a collection of environmental advocacy groups in New York City) to help retire or upgrade its gas-powered peaker plants in order to improve air quality in environmental justice neighborhoods. Potential options for replacement may include short- or long-term energy storage or the use of “green” hydrogen.Quiniones also said NYPA has several business ventures in place to invest in offshore wind. The CLCPA calls for installing nine gigawatts of power off the coast of Long Island and New York City. NYPA is moving forward with other grid transmission improvement projects around the state to help move clean energy, he said.“It's just amazing that everything is happening and the stars are aligned for more transmission build-out in our state,” he said. Other topics that Quiniones touched upon included:·    Efforts to improve cybersecurity·    The company’s COVID response·    NYPA’s eight-month effort to help restore power in       Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria For more about how we are addressing a zero-emissions grid with market-based solutions, visit the 2040 Power Grid webpage.  Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

Anne Reynolds joined the Alliance for Clean Energy (ACE NY) as executive director in 2014. But she has spent her career working on clean energy and environmental issues, including on numerous state programs to help ease the transition to emission-free resources in New York.She recently spoke with Kevin Lanahan, our vice president for external affairs and corporate communications, on our latest Power Trends Podcast. They discussed her role as a member of the state Climate Action Council (CAC) and her thoughts on what it will take to meet the aggressive clean energy targets of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).“I’ve been impressed with how much they’ve accomplished,” said Reynolds of the CAC’s work. “It’s illustrated how many moving parts there are to get New York to achieve the really ambitious climate goals that are in the CLCPA. It’s daunting when you understand how much New York is going to have to do.” Reynolds still sees many challenges ahead to achieving the renewable solar and wind energy goals called for in the CLCPA, including getting these technologies built, sited, permitted, and interconnected onto the grid. “We have to tackle all of those nuts-and-bolts issues,” she said.One of the biggest hurdles to meeting all of the CLCPA’s goals is the enormous task of electrifying New York’s buildings, which today make up about a third of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. She noted that all tools should be considered in order to ensure reliability while moving to a clean energy economy. There will be roles for carbon pricing, new dispatchable emission-free generation, green hydrogen, as well as a need to invest in storage, transmission improvements, demand response, and efficiency improvements, she says.“A lot will need to happen over the next 25 years to put us on that right path.”For more about how we are addressing a zero-emissions grid with market-based solutions, visit the 2040 Power Grid webpage.  Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

It’s Zach Smith’s job to prepare the New York energy grid for the future. Our Vice President of System and Resource Planning manages the team that looks at all potential reliability issues the grid could face, from a week to 10 years in the future. The team also looks at all proposed energy resources that seek to enter the grid via our Interconnection Queue process, and the impact these resources could have on reliability. In the past several years, we’ve made changes to the process of approving new resources, speeding up the approval process to reduce the cost to developers.  “We’ve had this comprehensive planning process for many years now,” he said, in an interview with Kevin Lanahan, Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications. “Now, with the changes to the grid, it’s so much more vitally important. We’re encountering all kinds of new challenges.”New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) sets the nation’s most ambitious clean energy targets. Under the CLCPA, the grid must get 70% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, as well as be emission-free by 2040. “Some of the challenges are based around what happens when the weather doesn’t cooperate,” Smith said.“What if the wind ceases to blow, what if clouds come in and you get less sunshine?” Smith asked. “You are still going to have significant electric demand. You need resources standing, willing and ready to produce, sometimes at a moment’s notice.”In addition, the changing climate presents its own grid concerns. We recently published our Climate Change and Impact Study, which offers suggestions on where to strengthen the grid in order to keep it resilient in the face of risks to reliability like cold snaps, heat waves and ice storms. We’re evaluating all of the potential conditions and the corresponding economics . The way that we do that is through the interconnection process. Meanwhile, we continue to see a tremendous number of new clean energy resources that developers are seeking to install in the coming years. Planning for these new resources, a process called the Interconnection Queue, is also a vital part of Smith’s duties.   “We’re evaluating all of that to make sure that the reliability and resiliency of the grid is maintained,” he said. “The New York ISO plays an important role in enabling these new resources and making sure they can interconnect reliably.”Learn more, read our blog: The Road to 2040: Our Interconnection Queue Shows Unprecedented Growth of Clean Energy Investment in NYLearn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

Jeff Bishop, CEO and co-founder of Key Capture Energy, got his start in the energy business 20 years ago developing wind farms in New York and around the world. In 2016, he and New York native Dan Fitzgerald crunched the numbers and saw the future in battery storage. Together, they formed Key Capture Energy. The Albany-based company has 54 megawatts of storage in operation  in New York and Texas, with an additional 200 MW under construction and a whopping 2.5 gigawatts in development in the Northeast and in Texas. As New York moves to a zero-emission grid, mandated by the CLCPA to be in place by 2040, energy storage plays a critical role. The state has called for 3,000 MW of storage by then. But Bishop said those numbers are just part of why Key Capture Energy is investing in New York.“New York is doing everything all at once,” he says. “A bunch of offshore wind, retirement downstate of dual-fuel peakers, all of this just leads to a grid that needs battery storage.”“Markets have traditionally rewarded what is economical but they need to reward what the grid needs five years from now,” Bishop explains. At the NYISO, our work preparing markets for energy storage led the nation with new rules already in place to broaden the ability of storage to bolster the reliable use of renewable resources.“We need it all,” says Bishop, referring to the many technologies expected to be serving the grid by 2040. “We need those 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind to come into Long Island and New York City. We need the rooftop solar. We need all sorts of distributed solar. We need transmission upgrades. And we need energy storage.”Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

Emilie Nelson, NYISO’s Executive Vice President, has more than two decades of experience in the energy industry. She’s also a member of the Power Generation Advisory Panel to the New York State Climate Action Council (CAC).The CAC will produce the scoping plan for a 70% renewable grid by 2030 and zero-emissions by 2040, placing Nelson in an active role for the most aggressive clean energy plan in the nation."It’s been called a ‘moonshot’ goal," Nelson said, in regard to the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. "New York’s grid is now around 27% renewable. We need to push that number to 70% in 10 years,"a mission she takes very seriously and is actively engaged.How is our organization partnering with the state to meet these ambitious steps? Through a variety of actions: making changes to our wholesale electricity markets that reward investment in clean energy, for instance, or identifying new transmission needs so more upstate-based green power can be moved downstate, where demand is highest. Finally, we’ve recently published a guide for the CAC that explains how markets and state policy can work together to reach the renewable and emissions goals."There is no one single thing, no magic, that will provide grid reliability," Nelson said. "The system must function together."Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

John Reese has a long history in the energy business, from roles with New York State, the U.S. Department of Energy, and his current position as Senior Vice President at Eastern Generation, which currently provides more than 20% of New York City’s energy capacity.He is also serving on the Power Generation Advisory Panel. It’s one of six panels organized to assist New York’s Climate Action Council, which is responsible for developing a scoping plan to guide the state on its journey toward reaching a zero-emission grid by 2040. John spoke with Kevin Lanahan, our Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications, for our latest Power Trends Podcast. “It’s pretty uncharted territory,” says Reese. “It involves fundamental, societal change."Reese explores a variety of solutions, including:Greater investment in battery storage (the CLCPA calls for adding 3,000 MW to the grid)The potential for generating power from “green” hydrogen gas created via excess renewable energyCarbon pricing, which would incorporate a “social cost” of carbon emissions into New York’s wholesale energy markets to make clean energy more competitiveMostly, it will take a number of creative solutions, including technologies that are currently in the research-and-development phase, he says.Maintaining “fast-ramping” resources in New York City is vital for reliability, Reese explains, especially at times of high demand, due to transmission limitations in densely populate areas. As the state continues to move to a grid of the future, Reese will continue to play a vital role in its development.In closing, Reese suggests we keep all solutions in mind as we move to the future. “One of the things we’re going to need very clearly,” he says, “is flexibility.”Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

What do you get when your avowed hobby is “energy policy?” With Bob Hiney, you get a man steeped in the minutia of New York’s energy markets, with four decades of experience in the electric power industry.Hiney, a member of the NYISO Board of Directors for 14 years, previously chaired the Management Committee and filled other important roles. He recently retired, but vowed to follow us closely.Looking back over his long and storied career, Hiney reflected on how New York’s energy markets have helped make sure the energy grid had enough power to meet demand while promoting innovation to bring us to the grid of the future. For our podcast, he spoke to Kevin Lanahan, Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications.More than 20 years after he helped design and establish our energy markets, he is pleased to see how the competitive markets have kept prices low while encouraging investment in new resources. But what does he see for the future?“This is a tremendous opportunity for the ISO and the electric power industry to reduce carbon,” he said. “We’re going to be spending a lot more time focusing on the demand side and how to capitalize on the flexibility that electric vehicles will provide. Balancing the intermittent energy from solar and wind is a challenge, but I see it as a real opportunity.”At a time when other states are facing reliability concerns, Hiney noted the importance of our capacity market to meet resource adequacy. He also noted the benefits of our carbon pricing proposal, which would incorporate a cost of carbon dioxide emissions into the energy markets.“Putting resources in the right place is going to be very important,” he said. "Carbon pricing will be the most accurate possible signal you can give to an investor on where best to build his facilities and what technologies to use."Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

What goes into the making of Power Trends, our annual report that tells the story of the electric grid in New York State? And why do you need to read it?In our latest podcast, the NYISO’s Ray Stalter and Gary Davidson discuss how Power Trends 2020: The Vision for a Greener Grid, is created to inform policymakers, stakeholders, and others interested in the state of the electric grid in New York, and the forces shaping the grid of the future. Power Trends covers the “need to know” issues associated with meeting our future energy needs in a simple and easy format. “It really does involve the engagement and hard work of pretty much every department within the company,” says Stalter, Director of Regulatory Affairs, who leads the annual publication effort and is one of the primary authors.In this episode, Stalter is joined by co-author Gary Davidson, Regulatory Affairs Principal, to discuss the months it takes to put Power Trends together and its importance to both energy industry stakeholders and the general public. Davidson commented, “it’s a labor of love.”Months in the making, Power Trends covers supply and demand trends, the changing resource mix, and the need for investment in transmission.  From the growth of renewable resources to the impact of COVID-19 on power consumption, Power Trends informs and educates on the grid of today and what is being done to enable the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which calls for a carbon-free grid by 2040.Visit the Power Trends 2020 web page: https://bit.ly/2zp87SCLearn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

What do you do when faced with the unknown risks of a new disease if you’re in charge of the reliability of the energy grid in New York State? For Wes Yeomans, our Vice President of Operations, the advent of COVID-19 meant putting into place our pandemic response plan. And for 37 NYISO Control Room operators, managers, and support staff, that meant total sequestration from the outside world until further notice. “It was prudent to isolate them from society,” Yeomans explains on the most recent Power Trends Podcast. “Just like planes can't fly without pilots and co-pilots, the electric system can't run without electric operators." That’s why, in mid-March, we took the unprecedented step of removing these vital staff from their families and setting up a home-away-from-home for the operators to live, work and recreate until COVID-19 is no longer a risk. To find out how we are maintaining both reliability of the grid and the physical and mental health of our valued staff, listen to the new podcast. Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page

Dr. Anthony Collins, President of Clarkson University since 2003, believes in the importance of finding new ways to promote a culture of innovation in one of the nation’s top technical colleges. It’s a culture engrained in our mission here at the NYISO as we transition to the grid of the future. Why does that matter so much today? We are in the midst of some of the biggest changes to the energy grid that we’ve seen in a century, as we move from traditional forms of generation to resources more reliant on solar and wind which literally change with the weather. As we prepare to make changes to our energy markets to support these new technologies, we need staff with both strong technical knowledge and the ability to think creatively. Clarkson University, which has prepared many of our talented staff in the past (including our President and CEO Rich Dewey), is creating the types of graduates we are looking for. Dr. Collins recently spoke to NYISO Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications, Kevin Lanahan, for our Power Trends Podcast. Hear the steps Clarkson University has taken to prepare its students for the jobs of tomorrow, from creating an “Innovation Hub” in the center of campus to investing in businesses owned by students.Learn More Follow us on Twitter @NewYorkISO and LinkedIn @NYISO Read our blogs and watch our videos Check out our 2040 grid page