New York halts offshore wind transmission plan amid federal uncertainty

(Reuters) -The New York State Public Service Commission has terminated its offshore wind transmission planning process due to stalled federal permitting, to protect state ratepayers from premature infrastructure costs, it said on Thursday.

This halts the Public Policy Transmission Need process of seeking proposals to deliver up to 8 gigawatts of offshore wind power into New York City by 2033.

The commission cited recent federal actions halting new offshore wind leasing and permitting, which it said make short-term project execution unfeasible.

"Given the uncertainty coming out of Washington, we must act to protect consumers," said Commission Chair Rory M. Christian. "This is not the end — we'll move forward once the federal government resumes permitting."

New York's commitment to offshore wind remains strong, the commission noted. Existing projects like South Fork Wind, Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind are unaffected and continue to move forward.

"Shovel-ready offshore wind projects are poised to add major capacity to the U.S. grid just when it’s needed most," said Hillary Bright, executive director at Turn Forward, a nonprofit organization aiming to advance offshore wind power. "Experts across the board are warning that the U.S. will soon face a shortfall in power supplies due to escalating demand from AI, cryptocurrency, and other digital economy drivers."

The commission has directed its staff to apply lessons from the PPTN process to future planning, focusing on affordability, reliability and risk-reduction. Further guidance will be incorporated into the 2026 Clean Energy Standard Biennial Review.

"Now is not the time for us to hold back the potential contribution of any energy source. For the U.S. to foster the energy resources it needs to stay competitive in the future, we must support continued development of all power resources," Bright added.

(Reporting by Anjana Anil in Bengaluru and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Richard Chang and Matthew Lewis)