NYISO: Evolving grid and emerging markets shape strategic plan

NYISO 2015-2019 Strategic Plan outlines wholesale market reforms, natural gas-electric coordination, DER integration, reliability and resilience measures, FERC Order 1000 planning, smart grid upgrades, and interregional coordination to strengthen New York's bulk electric system.

RENSSELAER, N.Y. — Grid evolution, emerging markets and broader regional cooperation continue to shape the multi-year Strategic Plan of the New York Independent System Operator NYISO.

The 2015-2019 Strategic Plan details key priorities that the NYISO will focus on over the next several years, building on the 2013-2017 plan framework established earlier. A five-year blueprint for addressing market dynamics, the annual strategic plan incorporates long-term strategic objectives, financial discipline, and operational priorities.

The plan is based on the NYISO board’s review of financial and regulatory outlooks, economic and environmental factors affecting market participants and the ability of competitive wholesale electricity markets to strengthen electric grid reliability, bolster grid resilience, and achieve energy policy priorities, including a greener grid across the state.

“Growing reliance on natural gas to generate electricity, the expanding role of distributed energy resources, and the potential effects of rigorous environmental regulation are key factors influencing the future of the electric system and our strategic priorities,” said NYISO Board Chair Michael Bemis.

The Strategic Plan also serves as the building block for the NYISO’s annual Business Plan, which sets business and project priorities, such as the NY system operator's smart-grid initiative launched to modernize the grid, for the year to come.

“Improved coordination between the electric and natural gas industries remains a priority, as do efforts to plan for fuel availability and sending the right price signals to ensure sufficient supplier performance incentives exist during critical periods,” said NYISO President and CEO Stephen Whitley. “It is extremely important that the bulk electric system and the gas pipeline infrastructure be built out to protect reliability and optimize all resources for the benefit of N.Y. consumers as we grow more dependent on natural gas.”

“The NYISO will continue to make improvements in interregional transaction coordination with our neighbors, including counterparts like the California ISO on the West Coast, implement the public policy planning processes required by FERC Order 1000, and implement the requirements of the expanded definition of the bulk electric system. We also will be supporting efforts to enhance the electric system’s infrastructure to provide a more robust, reliable and resilient power grid,” Whitley said.

As natural gas markets and infrastructure are a regional concern, the NYISO is helping lead efforts to improve visibility and awareness of developments in the gas infrastructure that may impact power generation across independent system operators and regional transmission organizations ISO/RTOs.

In addition, distributed energy resources DERs, which operate closer to the end user on the distribution system, can have implications for high-voltage, bulk system operations and wholesale market pricing as the grid evolves to incorporate more technology and Smart Grid initiatives across the industry.

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