This bill would require electric corporations and combination electric and gas corporations to evaluate advanced transmission technologies (ATTs) in certain Public Service Commission proceedings, including base rate cases, transmission planning proceedings, and capital improvement proposals. The required analysis must compare ATTs and other strategies against goals such as increasing transmission capacity, reducing congestion and renewable curtailment, improving reliability and resiliency, lowering climate-related risk, enabling interconnection of new renewable resources, accommodating data center and other load growth, and reducing costs to ratepayers.
If a utility’s analysis finds that an ATT or advanced conductor is cost-effective, the utility must submit a strategic implementation plan within 90 days. That plan must include timelines, procurement strategies, and measurable performance metrics, and the commission may direct timely deployment if it is in the public interest. Utilities must also file compliance reports with the commission, NYISO, and legislative energy committees within one year and every two years thereafter.
The bill also directs NYSERDA to study the effectiveness of advanced transmission technologies, first nationally and then in New York, within 12 months of enactment. The study must describe ATTs used in New York, evaluate their impacts on capacity, congestion, curtailment, reliability, ratepayer savings, and renewable integration, include at least two multi-technology case studies, and project future deployment opportunities. NYSERDA may consult with NYISO, FERC, consumer advocates, utilities, academics, and other stakeholders, and must report its findings to the Legislature and Governor.
The bill would amend the Public Service Law and, through its study and reporting provisions, could lead to future PSC regulations requiring utilities to incorporate ATTs into planning and investment decisions if NYSERDA concludes they are in the public interest. It also affects utility planning, rate cases, and transmission investment practices, while creating new reporting obligations for utilities and a new research mandate for NYSERDA.
Overall sentiment appears strongly favorable. The Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee approved the bill unanimously in the recorded vote, and the Senate floor passed it by a wide margin in 2025. A later floor vote in 2026 was still positive but showed more opposition, suggesting some continuing debate over the scope or regulatory implications of the measure. The main points of contention likely involve whether utilities should be compelled to prioritize these technologies, the cost and reliability of implementation, and how much discretion the PSC should have in directing deployment versus allowing utilities to choose among alternatives.
The bill would add a new section 66-x to the Public Service Law and create new obligations for electric corporations and combination electric and gas corporations in PSC proceedings. It requires cost-effectiveness and timetable analyses of advanced transmission technologies, mandates implementation plans when those technologies are found cost-effective, and establishes recurring compliance reporting to the PSC, NYISO, and legislative energy committees. It also directs NYSERDA to conduct a study and, depending on the results, could prompt PSC rulemaking requiring utilities to incorporate ATTs into planning and investment decisions.
The recorded votes indicate broad support for the bill, with unanimous committee approval and strong Senate floor passage in the initial vote. The later floor vote remained favorable but with a larger number of nays, suggesting that while the bill is generally viewed positively as a grid modernization and clean energy planning measure, some senators had reservations about regulatory mandates, utility costs, or implementation details.
The likely areas of contention are the bill’s potential to require utilities to adopt specific transmission technologies, the cost-effectiveness threshold for triggering implementation plans, and the PSC’s authority to direct deployment. Stakeholders who may favor the bill include clean energy advocates, consumer advocates seeking lower long-term costs, and grid planners interested in congestion relief and renewable integration. Potential skeptics may include utilities concerned about added planning burdens, capital costs, and regulatory flexibility, as well as lawmakers wary of mandating technology choices before the NYSERDA study is complete.