The Rotterdam Transmission Line is a century old.
Made of some wood and primarily steel towers, the outdated line is susceptible to failure during blizzards, wind storms and other extreme weather events that are becoming more common as our planet warms.
In addition, with a flow capacity of just 69 kilovolts, the Rotterdam line, which helps move power from Rotterdam to Amsterdam, Gloversville, Canajoharie and beyond, may not be ready for an increase in electric use, according to Bart Franey, National Grid’s vice president of Clean Energy Development.
What’s troubling is that electricity use is soaring nationwide after a nearly two decade lull.
Locally, New York State Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s bulk electric system and wholesale electricity markets, forecasts winter demand for electricity is expected to rise by approximately 1,000 megawatts of usage each year over the next decade.
But here is where some of the irony comes in.
The surge in electricity usage is driven, in part, by an increased reliance on technology like electric cars, battery and solar factories, and other innovations that are critical to the clean-energy transition.
And as utility companies across the country scramble to meet this increased demand, many in states such as Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia are proposing to build dozens of natural gas-burning power plants over the next 15 years.
If such facilities are built, “it is game over for the Biden administration’s 2035 decarbonization goal,” one former solar developer told The New York Times earlier this month.
It is against this backdrop that National Grid unveiled on Wednesday a $4 billion Upstate Upgrade. The six-year plan calls for more than 70 projects within the utility’s 25,000-square-mile Upstate New York territory – including replacing roughly 130 circuit miles of the Rotterdam line with a system capable of pumping 115 kilovolts.
The upgrade is meant to make transmission lines more durable, while also addressing the increasing demand for electricity.
Far from committing to a continued reliance on fossil fuels, the upgrade is all part of National Grid’s effort to help support the state’s green energy transition. That transition is being spurred by New York’s ambitious 2019 Climate Act, requiring New York to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030 and no less than 85% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. It includes numerous initiatives like a call for school districts to switch to electric buses, cleanup efforts on the Hudson River and upgrading the grid.
“The state encouraged us to identify projects that will serve multiple use cases,” Franey said. “And here, we have basically a number where we're going to support the export of renewables, we're going to support the electrification of society, we're going to remove some assets that are way past their end of life, and we're going to harden the system against severe storms.”
This is exactly the kind of major overhaul that is needed right now.
While the current grid relies primarily on the burning of fossil fuels to create electricity – a process that emits carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – this is changing as wind and solar facilities continue to come online across the state, including in the Mohawk Valley.
“We often explain it in terms of onramps and offramps,” Franey said.
In, say, Amsterdam or Schoharie County, primarily the lines were developed as “offramps” to distribute power.
“Today, what we're creating are onramps, so those onramps will enable a lot of the renewable energy in support of the energy transition to grow in those areas and put power onto these onramps that will go out to serve the local community and communities all across the state,” Franey explained.
In other words, upgrading the grid can help better ensure that renewable energy generators like solar and wind plants can supply electricity to homes and businesses across the state. But upgrading the grid can also support an increased demand for electricity that’s growing as we switch to electric cars, transition to heat pumps and increasingly rely on computing technology that draws a lot of electricity.
So upgrading the grid is essential. But it’s also going to take a lot of work.
As National Grid remakes its grid, upstate residents, including those who live near the Rotterdam Line, can expect to see a lot of activity.
On the plus side, this means an economic benefit, including 1,700 new construction jobs statewide – a workforce that will be made up of roughly half local residents, according to National Grid. A third-party analysis found the overall statewide economic benefit of the upgrade is expected to be nearly $2 billion.
But there’s no doubt that some of the work will interfere with daily life. For instance, residents near the Rotterdam line will see trucks and drill rigs digging holes beginning in October as crews analyze the soil in advance of construction.
Some of the disruption will be unpleasant. But it’s all in an effort to fully decarbonize the grid by 2040 to limit greenhouse gas emissions so we have a snowball’s chance on a warming planet to slow the effects of climate change and the disruptive forces of nature it unleashes.
“As long as we plan accordingly and get out ahead of the transition, we can handle it,” Franey said.
You might say the Upstate Upgrade is a well-timed initiative focused on planning for the next 100 years.
Columnist Andrew Waite can be reached at awaite@dailygazette.net and at 518-417-9338. Find him on X @UpstateWaite
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