ORIGINAL REPORTING: Uptown Funk – Where will NYC get its peak demand capacity?

Uptown Funk: Where will NYC get its peak demand capacity? Con Ed says aging natural gas plants are fine; storage advocates say a crisis is imminent.

Herman K. Trabish, Oct. 26, 2017 (Utility Dive)

Editor’s note: The debate about how urgent NYC’s need to act continues, but there is no doubt that the opportunity to meet the need with innovative New Energy-based strategies is there.

While about 30% of New York City’s peak demand is met by natural gas turbines older than most such plants in service, Consolidated Edison (ConEd), the city's distribution utility, argues “aging is not the same as having to be replaced." And a study by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) concluded power plants now in service “will meet reliability criteria over the 2017-2026 period.” ConEd told Utility Dive peaker units “are easy to maintain” and are used “for only a couple of hours and then shut down.” But ConEd does not own them and has little visibility into how viable the plants are, the utility acknowledged. The NYC Mayor’s Office, cited the NYISO analyses in denying any near-term peak demand reliability concerns…

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The current sufficiency of NYC's peak demand resources was questioned in "New York City’s Aging Power Plants: Risks, Replacement Options, and the Role of Energy Storage" in the September 2017 Strategen Consulting report. A shortfall of 642 MW could develop from the aging peak capacity infrastructure in the metro NYC region, it found from examining NYISO data on natural gas plants. It found that 2,860 MW of NYC’s approximately 11,600 MW of forecasted peak load is provided by turbines older than xthe age at which 95% of such plants retire. In addition, NYC’s peak demand needs are evolving, Strategen found. The NYISO’s evaluation did not assume the retirement of Indian Point, changes in the availability of natural gas supply, changes in regional electricity imports, anticipated new rules restricting ozone, and potential natural gas plant retirements and diminished performance. The advanced age of many turbines providing peak load in NYC is an opportunity to write new rules and policies that allow the city to meet its growing peak demand in ways that support its renewables and climate goals… click here for more

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