NYS PSC to hold hearings on proposed high-voltage cables from Nassau to Westchester

The state Public Service Commission is holding four hearings in Nassau County starting Tuesday to allow the public to weigh in on a proposed 90-mile series of high-voltage cables that will wend their way from western Long Island to Westchester County.

The $3.2 billion Propel NY Energy project, to be built by the New York Power Authority and a private developer, New York Transco, will cost residents across the state just under $2 a month if it meets its expected completion date of 2030. The PSC has already approved $1.4 billion for the project, and construction is scheduled to start in a year.

On Long Island, the project has big public policy backing for the boost it will provide to congested power lines, but has faced intense opposition from residents primarily from North Shore communities which face road disruptions and concerns about 345,000-volt transmission cables running through neighborhoods and business districts.

"Our community is being disproportionately impacted," said Glen Head resident Christine Panzeca, who pointed to health concerns about high-voltage cables, the addition of a new substation and undersea cables in Hempstead Harbor.

The project is under review by the PSC in a process called Article VII that is examining the cable routes, among other matters.

Propel consists of five new 345,000-volt power cables — all considerably larger than what currently exists on Long Island — including lines from a substation at the E.F Barrett substation in Island Park to a Uniondale hub; a new substation in Melville to Glenwood Landing; another from Glenwood Landing under Long Island Sound to New Rochelle, and another from Uniondale to the Bronx. A 138,000-volt line will connect a Syosset substation to one in Glenwood Landing.

The hearings come on the heels of a PSC decision last week to terminate a separate power transmission line solicitation slated to bring offshore wind power into New York City. The PSC cited federal orders to freeze offshore wind power permitting and construction, acknowledging that made "achieving New York’s offshore-wind goal impossible in the near term." State climate law mandates 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind power on the grid by 2035.

Panzeca suggested the PSC’s decision could easily apply to the Propel project, which was the result of a PSC order titled the "Long Island Offshore Wind Public Policy Transmission Need."

"The PSC should be killing their Long Island public policy need about exporting wind off Long Island for the same reason they used to kill their public policy need for New York City," she said.

PSC spokesman James Denn noted Propel "addresses multiple needs for Long Island’s energy system, including important reliability and resiliency benefits, that are independent of any future offshore wind projects."

Upgrades in the transmission system were needed, the PSC said in its May 2022 order, "to assure that the offshore wind energy expected to be injected into New York City and Long Island can be distributed to the state at large."

Now developers of Propel say it is power-agnostic, and needed to allow energy to move easily in both directions from congested power ties between upstate and downstate.

Hearings on Tuesday are at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 83 Sea Cliff Ave., Glen Cove.

On Wednesday, hearings are 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Nassau County Legislature, 1550 Franklin Ave., Mineola. Comments also can be provided to the PSC through its toll-free opinion line, 800-335-2120.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.