2023 Business Council of NY State’s Renewable Energy Conference details and link to Keynote Address
Keynote speaker: Richard Ellenbogen, President, Allied Converters (Bio)
Energy on Demand as the Life Blood of Business and Entrepreneurship in the State
NY State Climate Action Council Draft Scoping Plan
Champlain Hudson Power Express Project
The Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) is an innovative renewable power transmission project that is ready to deliver REAL. CLEAN. POWER. to New York. The project will play a key role in the state’s energy transformation, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, creating jobs and generating billions of dollars in new investment in New York’s economy while delivering low-cost renewable energy to New York state.
While now expected to begin operating in 2025, it was proposed in 2013. Twelve years will have passed between concept and implementation with extensive delays as a result of local resistance that is even now ongoing. The cables will be necessary to provide sufficient energy to NY State but will not provide a sufficient amount to support the state’s plans, including vehicle electrification and onsite thermal electrification. Additionally, energy imported from Quebec may be curtailed during the winter when their electric load increases. However, that is when NY State’s load is expected to peak under the new plan so that energy will not be available when NY State needs it the most.
Controversy over Blackstone’s NY transmission corridor
The proposed Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) is a 333-mile long 1,000-megawatt high voltage direct current (HVDC) power line consisting of bi-directional cables — two cables side by side running to and from Quebec to New York City. 110 miles of these cables will be under the Hudson River carrying hydroelectricity produced by megadams on Indigenous lands.
NY Independent System Operator 2021 – 2030 Comprehensive Reliability Plan
Graph on page 7 indicates reliability issues possibly beginning in 2023 (negative green bars) and getting worse as 2031 approaches. This is one year before NY City bans gas combustion in new construction below 7 floors in 2024 and all construction in 2028 that will greatly increase utility system load.
Initial Report on the New York Power Grid Study – Brattle Group Report (View/Download PDF)
Initial Report on the New York Power Grid Study.
Highlighted text on page 71 clearly shows issues with the interconnection of offshore wind to the utility system, requiring interconnection across Long Island, while Wainscott residents are fighting just such a power cable.
Wainscott Moves to Block Wind Cable
American GeoSciences Institute: Methane Emissions in the Oil and Gas Industry
A study of seven oil- and gas-producing regions in the U.S. found higher methane emissions in mainly oil-producing areas than in mainly gas-producing areas. This in part reflects the fact that oil may contain some methane that can escape from oil storage tank vents and other openings.
Why NY State Must Rethink Energy Plan (View/download PDF version)
This is the presentation that has been shown to State Officials, including members of the Senate, the Legislature, NYSERDA, and The Chair of The Public Service Commission since 2019. Some of the numbers may have changed over the past three years but they are essentially still accurate. No one questioned the numbers and even said that many of them matched theirs. The only response from NYSERDA was that they would install renewable generation faster than I am calculating. However, I am using their installation figures and their track record with renewable installation has not been good. Much of that is through no fault of their own but is a result of a NIMBY mindset and the fact that New York State has more lawyers per capita than anyplace except Washington DC. After a 45 minute presentation to the Chair of The Public Service Commission in Albany, his only response was, “So can we agree that energy efficiency is a good thing?” There was nothing stating that my numbers were incorrect. His actions spoke far louder than any words as on the last day before his term expired, he authorized the retooling of the Danskammer Generating facility because he knew that New York State would be short of energy going forward.
Lansing As A Microcosm of New York State’s Energy Problems (View/download PDF version)
This is a review of the first Gas Pipeline Moratorium in NY State. It is not reducing gas usage. Instead, NYSEG issued an RFP for trucked in natural gas with a far higher carbon footprint. The Tompkins County report justifying these policies was written by a company that had a monetary stake in converting onsite thermal heating to heat pumps as they sell heat pumps. There are many problems with the report that are documented in the paper.