Competition in New York State Advances Renewable Energy, Smart Grid Technology

The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) credited competitive markets with reducing air pollution by attracting investment in power plant efficiency and clean energy sources, according to a report in Restructuring Today and Platts Electric Power Daily.
 
Stephen Whitely, NYISO’s CEO, stated that competition has combined with carbon control programs like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to sharply lower emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide.

“Competition in wholesale electricity markets has stimulated investments in cleaner generation, increased the use of renewable resources – such as wind power – and encouraged operating changes to improve the overall efficiency of power plants,” said Whitely. 

A quick look at the facts backs up his assertion. Emission rates in New York’s power generation fleet now rank among the lowest in the continental United States, and the decline in emissions has occurred even as NYISO added over 8,000 megawatts (MW) of new generation from 1999 to 2009. 
 
Unique characteristics of competitive markets like the NYISO are enabling clean energy to thrive. According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), New York ranks eighth nationally in installed wind energy capacity, and 150 MW of recently proposed solar energy projects would rank the state second in the country in installed solar capacity.
 
NYISO launched a centralized wind forecasting mechanism in 2008, and recently reported to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that it is successfully providing accurate wind energy forecasts every 15 minutes for the entire system, eight hours of forecast data for each wind facility in the program and twice-daily forecasts for each hour of the following two days.
 
In addition to getting greener, New York’s grid is also getting much smarter. Innovative energy storage projects like flywheel technology and large-scale battery systems are flourishing in the state, helping to address the intermittent nature of renewable energy. NYISO’s synchophasor measurement and capacity banks system, launched this year, transmits data 60 times every second to detect system vulnerabilities and reduce energy lost during transmission. Furthermore, more than 450 MW of demand response capacity helped the state maintain reliability during this summer’s record heat waves.
 
As evidenced in New York, competitive markets can and will to continue to advance environmental and efficiency innovations that provide cleaner and more cost effective electricity to all consumers.