Monday, April 6, 2009

NYISO White Paper - Transmission Expansion in New York State

http://www.nyiso.com/public/webdocs/documents/white_papers/transmission_11202008.pdf

How to pay for transmission:
1-Everyone pays (postage stamp rate)
2-User pays

"New York has a long history of upstate versus downstate disputes over infrastructure, and transmission is a part of that history. Simply put, upstate interests typically do not want to host, and much less pay for, facilities designed primarily to serve downstate interests. Meanwhile, downstate interests are not willing to fund (and bear the cost recovery risk for) 100% of the cost of facilities located upstate. Projects that have circumvented this cost allocation roadblock, such as the New York State Thruway and NYPA’s state-wide transmission network, were state-sponsored projects that will be difficult to repeat in today’s political and siting environment."

I'm not sure why the Thruway is included. The Thruway is used by all; I don't think upstate New York is opposed to the Thruway.

No one in upstate NY got benefits out of the NYRI project. (Well there was a one-time $30 million proposed community fund--but a one-time amount spread over 200 miles was practically worthless--since impacts were so horrendous).

Part of the problem is that everyone wants to mix systems. Let's use the capitalist system so that NYRI can be enticed to build and make the big bucks. But when it comes to private property owners let's switch to eminent domain (your property get's to be taken to benefit all). Let's not have it both ways. If upstate land and right-of-way is so valuable then let's (both communities and individuals) be allowed to get the big bucks too.

We're mixing up systems in the banking industry too. Banks get to use free market capitalism until they gamble all the money away, then the switch is made to socialism so that everyone pays to shore up the banks.

Inherently unfair and inconsistent systems----they'll never work. They also demoralize everyone.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You're missing the bigger point. Look at prices upstate versus downstate on nyiso.com.

New transmission from upstate to downstate would cause electricity prices to levelize somewhat upstate/downstate.

Because of the huge population unbalance, each 100% rise in energy costs upstate would result in roughly a 20% reduction in costs downstate. That would cause a political volcano of unprecedented proportion.

I don't believe that there exists the political courage to levelize power costs.

By the way, the same political issue is what killed the proposed merger between ISO NE and NYISO. It would have caused prices to rise in New England and to drop in NY.