A look at the who generates and controls electric power in NYS
An OPINION By Frederick Sinclair, pictured is Niagara Falls
The sudden hike in electrical bills has people in Western New York State wondering, why, our bills have taken such a jump and keep going up. Hydro-electric generating facilities at Niagara Falls produce 80 to 100 % of the power needed daily in Western NY, at 21,000 Giga Watt hours, which also happens to be 20 % of all NYS consumption. The NY Power Authority owned, Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant, is currently producing the cheapest and ‘cleanest’ electricity in NYS at 1.3 cents/kwh. Despite the cheap and clean hydro source, locally, the actual NYSEG price for electricity is around 29 cents per kWh which is approximately 70% more than the national average. Delivery/transmission/other fees are soaring and the NYS Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved continued increases into 2027.
Let’s climb to our treetop to get a look at the overall statewide generators and control of electricity. The entire grid and operations are controlled by The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). It is a PSC associated body which manages the wholesale electricity market and sets the supply charges. Natural gas fuels about half (50%) of the NYS generation capacity and the price of electricity is reflective of seasonal usage of natural gas and infrastructure demands. Efficiency and effect of low cost of Hydro, providing 20%, is diluted into overall costs of statewide grid infrastructure. Nuclear plants account for 18 percent of generation and even with the advent of solar and wind farms 5% and 7% respectively there is an overall reduction in generation capacity. Burning of coal and oil is negligible and usage is mostly as smaller backup stations and backup generation onsite. Demands on the unified grid; costs. Profit, administrative, pricing, disaster repairs and forecasting of demand is reflected in the delivery costs and fees, felt in your monthly bill.
Demand and cost for electricity had been somewhat manageable up until exploding growth in technologies, electrification of home appliances and heating, electric vehicles, communications data centers and manufacturing, exponentially have increased demands and cost. Upgrading, expansion, grid congestion and costs of controlling the expanding grid, are being passed down to the consumer and appear to parallel increased demand. 5G deployment alone has increased the telecommunications demand by 500 percent in energy usage and the recent expansion in data centers is estimated to have used all the advances in generation, to date, provided by solar and wind farms. There is no end in sight for out of control expanding grid demand from electric cars, massive data centers, digital smart homes and cities, the internet of things, robotics in manufacturing, global digital control of currency and surveillance. Soon, there will not be sufficient electricity to power uncontrolled growth and controlled blackouts will become routine. As a whole, ratepayers are already struggling to support the monthly electric charges and cannot/ should not have to swallow future increases in taxes, levied by the government, to subsidize out of control growth, and satisfy unbridled demands for electricity.
We are seeing world government give up on goals to stop global warming. They are bringing back the burning of fossil fuels to spin generators. Nuclear fusion reactor technology is being adapted from navy vessels, into modular units for quick and easy placement all over the country. Stopping atmospheric pollution, reduction of CO2, as well as the protection of natural resources and endangered species from fossil fuel production, are becoming ‘passing fads’, in the face of a manic frenzy to fuel technological profit.
The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) monitors and is responsible for the reliability and operation of the state’s power system. They are a quasi government hybrid organization; with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and NYS Public Service Commission (PSC) oversight, however, it operates as an independent non-profit 501C3 corporation that controls the power grid, balances the supply and demand, manages high voltage transport and manipulates the wholesale energy markets. The NYSIO Board of Directors is an independent, 10-member body consisting of industry professionals. They are the former Chairman of Con Edison, General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy, former CEO and President of NYSEG and RG&E, et-al. How these former energy industry executives will in the future balance industry agendas with the impact to the people as ratepayers remains to be seen. To date the track record is questionable, as continuous and already approved future user rate increases are a harsh reality. NYISO has, to their credit however, implemented several comprehensive measures to control 5G, data center, and manufacturing demands on the grid. In depth descriptions of these measures are easily found using Google Search.
NOTE: Next week we will take a look at the stalled proposals for decentralized Micro Grids and innovations for generating, storing and insuring an affordable supply of reliable and environmentally sound power to the people.
Fred Sinclair is an Alfred NY based opinion writer who takes readers on deep dives into perspectives you won’t see in the mainstream media. You can reach him anytime, fpsinclair@yahoo.com
