Propel NY will ensure Long Island has power when, where needed

We live in an increasingly electrified world. Electricity powers every aspect of our modern life in ways that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. Yet, the infrastructure we rely on to ensure reliable power has not kept pace with our changing society and economy. That is not a sustainable future.

The MRI at your local hospital, PCs at your work and the internet that connects homes and business to support a thriving economy? Most of the state's power grid was built before any of it was invented.

That was an era when our grid could manage the demand. No longer. Unless we are prepared to unplug much of the technology that has become essential to everyday life on Long Island, our grid shortfall needs to be addressed.

The ability to confront that challenge arrives with the construction of a new underground transmission line that will ensure reliable power when and where it is needed, Propel NY Energy. Underscoring its need, the project received a key regulatory approval from the state Public Service Commission a few weeks ago.

This region faces significant transmission congestion, because the grid cannot meet the power demands of our 21st century digital age. Just as traffic jams up the Long Island Expressway at rush hour, so too does the electricity flowing within transmission lines to our communities and businesses, creating a bottleneck that drives up prices and threatens reliability.

That's where Propel NY comes in. After years of planning, technical reviews and community engagement, the $3.26 billion project has advanced substantially through the state's comprehensive Article VII permitting process. Construction is expected to start at the end of this year, and deliver power to Long Island by 2030. That's just in time.

The project's importance cannot be overstated. Without Propel, the grid operator estimates that Long Island's energy reliability deficiency beginning in 2030 means the potential for rolling brownouts and blackouts, especially in summer.

Long Island now generates only about 60% of the electricity it needs daily, requiring imports from upstate and out of state. The Island's electricity demand is expected to rise 16% from 2025 levels by 2036, and 37% by 2046.

Couldn't Long Island just build more power plants? Yes, but likely too late to address our impending reliability crunch. Propel NY is the only project that can deliver the power needed for Long Island in the time frame we need it, with minimal construction impact.

There will be some temporary road disturbance necessary to install the Propel cable, but those disruptions will be brief, with construction coordinated to minimize traffic concerns.

Adding to the existing two cables connecting Long Island to off-Island generation, Propel's three new ties to the statewide grid will have the ability to transmit up to 3,000 megawatts of power — that's like moving power from three typical nuclear power plants. The lines can carry any form of energy that is available to be dispatched, based on decisions made by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO).

The project has been identified by the NYISO as a key solution to relieving transmission congestion, particularly during cold snaps and heat waves, when Long Island can pull the abundant, clean and inexpensive energy from other parts of the state instead of relying on costly, dirty "peaker" plants here.

That steady, reliable delivery is in addition to the expected savings we'll see from reducing congestion.

Long Island's enormous economic success story has been written by the entrepreneurial energy of its citizens. But they need to be assured that they will continue to have the power to sustain that success. It's found in Propel NY.

This guest essay reflects the views of Robert Freudenberg, the Regional Plan Association's vice president of energy and environment.