As electricity demand rises and federal energy policies shift, New York is increasingly focused on building a diverse portfolio of energy resources rather than relying on any single technology to power its future, according to New York State Energy Research and Development Authority CEO Doreen Harris.
Speaking with Energy Daily at ACP CLEANPOWER, Harris said the state's energy planning efforts have evolved significantly since the passage of New York's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in 2019, as planners contend with rapid load growth, data center development, and changing market conditions.
"The reality that has occurred between 2019 and today is something that was unforeseeable," Harris said. "There are increasing demands on our energy system. As energy planners, we're not used to load growth. We don't plan for that."
At the same time, Harris said states are navigating a complicated environment in which demand for electricity continues to rise while some of the technologies needed to meet that demand face political and policy headwinds.
"It's this trifecta of issues that have really come together in a way that for us, we're solving against a reality that is very different than in 2019," she said.
For New York, the answer is what Harris described as "resource diversity."
"The name of the game for a state like New York and generally is this term that is used, resource diversity," Harris said. "It's not going to be all wind, it's not going to be all solar, it's not going to be all nuclear, it's not going to be all gas. It's going to be a combination thereof."
That strategy includes continued deployment of renewable energy, energy storage, transmission infrastructure, existing generation assets, and emerging technologies such as advanced nuclear reactors.
New York currently receives roughly 20% of its electricity from nuclear power, and Harris said the state sees long-term potential in advanced nuclear technologies as part of a broader clean energy portfolio.
"We see the technologies coming along, the federal government support to help create scale and a pipeline of projects, and we see the need," Harris said.
According to Harris, state modeling found that a future system incorporating 5 GW of nuclear generation remained cost-effective alongside major renewable energy deployments and transmission investments.
"We modeled 5 gigawatts of nuclear power and even with all of the renewables that I just described, and even with transmission, it was at least cost," she said.
While long-term planning remains a priority, Harris pointed to reliability challenges in New York City as one of the state's most immediate concerns. The city remains heavily dependent on a combination of local generation, transmission imports, and future offshore wind development.
One major milestone came this week with the start of service from a 339-mile transmission line delivering Canadian hydropower into New York City.
"We have a major transmission line that just entered operation this week to deliver 20% of New York City's electricity needs into Queens," Harris said.
Looking across the broader clean energy industry, Harris described the current moment as both productive and uncertain.
On one hand, New York has one of the largest renewable energy construction pipelines in its history. On the other, developers continue to navigate policy uncertainty and shifting federal priorities.
"It's the best of times and the worst of times," Harris said. "People are very busy building, and these projects are going forward."
For Harris, the path forward is clear: continue building the resources available today while preserving flexibility for the technologies that will shape tomorrow's grid.
"We need to preserve the projects that we can," she said, "and we need to change this paradigm to one in which we recognize these assets as infrastructure assets that are going to aid in our economic future as a country."