The New York Public service Commission has announced that it has taken a step toward meeting New York’s target of 1,500 megawatts (MW) of energy storage by 2025 by accepting the environmental review of policy options to implement New York’s Energy Storage Roadmap as complete. In addition, the Commission adopted an “aspirational” deployment goal of 3,000 MW of energy storage by 2030. These deployment goals are coupled with comprehensive energy storage deployment policies and actions that the commission found will help energy storage services that would otherwise go uncompensated and improve project economics by sending appropriate price signals to the marketplace. Deployment policy guidance adopted by the commission includes treatment of legacy standby and buyback services and rates, use of earnings adjustment mechanisms to incentivize storage acquisition, and peak reduction and load factor -based system efficiency targets.

The Commission, as part of a mandatory environmental review of compliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act, found a number of positive environmental impacts associated with the development of the storage roadmap plan due to reductions in peak load demand during critical periods, increases in the overall efficiency of the grid, and/or displacement of fossil fuel-based generation (e.g., by allowing greater integration of renewable energy resources). According to the commission, these benefits may include:

1. Creation of approximately 30,000 jobs associated with energy storage research and development, development, manufacturing, installation and other support services;
2. Mitigation of the impacts of climate change from approximately 2 million metric tons of avoided greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and
3. Improvement in public health from avoided emissions of criteria air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) sulfur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM2.5). To the extent that these avoided air emissions occur from the displacement of peaker plants located in Potential Environmental Justice Areas (PEJAs), the associated benefits may accrue to these vulnerable communities.

Re Energy Storage Deployment Program, Case 18-E-0130, Dec. 13, 2018 (N.Y.P.S.C.).