Governor Hochul Announces Approval of Major Offshore Wind Transmission Line

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the New York State Public Service Commission approved a transmission line that will deliver electricity from the Sunrise Wind Farm, a proposed wind farm off the coast of Long Island, to the existing electrical grid in New York State. The 25-mile offshore/onshore transmission line will carry electricity from the wind farm to an existing substation in Brookhaven, Suffolk County.

"New York is taking bold action to address the climate crisis, and projects like Sunrise Wind demonstrate our leadership on clean energy," Governor Hochul said. "As we work to advance our nation-leading climate goals and create the jobs of the future, offshore wind projects will be critical to deliver clean energy to all New Yorkers."

At 924 megawatts (MW), the proposed Sunrise Wind farm located in federal waters is the largest offshore wind farm yet that would be connected to New York's electric grid. The wind farm project, which has the potential capacity to power nearly 600,000 homes, is being developed as a partnership between Ørsted and Eversource, with support from Con Edison Transmission and the New York Power Authority, who will assist the development of the transmission facilities needed to deliver the offshore wind energy to the electric transmission grid.

The developers expect the offshore wind farm will be fully operational by 2025, resulting in a direct investment of more than $408 million in New York and the creation of 800 direct jobs in New York State, plus thousands of indirect jobs. The transmission line approved by the Commission today is being built by Sunrise Wind, LLC. Additionally, Sunrise Wind is entering negotiations with New York State contractors and trade labor organizations on a project labor agreement to cover construction activities for the project, and committing to paying prevailing wages.

New York State Public Service Commission Chair Rory M. Christian said, "Offshore projects like Sunrise will play a key role in developing clean-energy for New York State and will help New York achieve its nation-leading renewable energy goals. Our decision today protects the public interest and ensures any potential significant negative impacts of the transmission project are avoided or minimized. Today's Sunrise decision is a win for Long Island, and a win for all New Yorkers because it represents another step in the transition to cleaner energy and will create jobs and opportunities for individuals and industries."

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said, "Today's announcement by Governor Hochul is an important step in the process to bring clean, renewable power to Long Island, while also creating hundreds of jobs for New Yorkers. Suffolk County is eager to continue to work with New York State to ensure this critical project can be completed and the windmills can start turning."

Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Edward P. Romaine said, "I strongly support Governor Hochul's efforts for the development of the 924 megawatt off-shore wind farm, Sunrise Wind, that will bring clean, renewable energy to Long Island and create 800+ jobs."

President of the New York League of Conservation Voters Julie Tighe said, "Like so many pieces to a puzzle, it is very exciting to see New York's clean energy economy coming together. The New York League of Conservation Voters applauds Governor Hochul's approach of boosting offshore wind production-like what we see at the Sunrise Wind Farm-while simultaneously building the transmission capacity to bring that clean energy home to New Yorkers. We congratulate Ørsted and Eversource, the project developers, on this important step. Today's announcement moves us closer to meeting the ambitious goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, and is another example of New York lighting the way in the fight against climate change."

Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment Adrienne Esposito said, "This is an exciting giant leap forward in advancing renewable energy. This single transition line will carry enough renewable energy to power over 500,000 homes on Long Island including my home. Now that's progress! It's imperative that we break our addiction to fossil fuels and establish the necessary infrastructure to use 21st century renewable energy technology. Governor Hochul is paving a path to a cleaner, safer future."

President of the Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO John R. Durso said, "The Public Service Commission's approval is consistent with keeping environmental responsibility a paramount priority, and allows necessary transmission grid upgrades to move forward that have the added benefit of creating and supporting good-paying union jobs. In order toachieve New York's clean energy economy in an efficient and cost-effective manner transmission and distribution infrastructure upgrades will continue to be necessary. This approval is one of many that will be necessary to keep New York on track to integrate offshore wind in the most affordable and resilient manner possible."

President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties Matthew Aracich said, "Today we take the next great step in connecting Long Island's Workforce to the heart of our new economy for New York State. I'd like to express my sincere appreciation to Governor Hochul for her leadership in advancing the offshore wind industry here on Long Island. The Governor has delivered on her promise of making workforce development her top priority through the creation of the new offshore wind industry here on Long Island. The Governor's approval of the transmission line for Sunrise Wind will actively put our members to work. When we create good paying, union jobs, especially in the emerging green energy industry, we are really creating careers. Sunrise Wind, and the subsequent offshore wind projects which will follow in order to hit Governor Hochul's 9GW goal, will create thousands of careers and represents the biggest economic development opportunity on Long Island in our lifetime."

Chief Executive Officer at LIPA Thomas Falcone said, “Governor Hochul’s announcement is an important step that provides LIPA customers with clean, affordable energy. Both South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind are helping to build a new and dynamic offshore wind industry right here on Long Island — an industry that will protect our environment and provide new clean energy jobs.”

The joint proposal adopted today was unopposed by any party and was signed by Sunrise Wind, LLC, Department of Public Service Staff, Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Agriculture and Markets, Department of State, Department of Transportation, and the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association. The agreement will protect the public interest and will ensure potential significant negative impacts of the transmission project are avoided or minimized. The next step in the process includes Commission approval of the transmission project's environmental management and construction plan prior to construction.

The approved transmission project includes a high-voltage, 320-kV, DC submarine export cable bundle up to 5.2 miles long that will enter New York State territorial waters 3 nautical miles from land. The transmission line will then transition from an offshore cable to an onshore cable that will travel up to 17.2 miles to an onshore converter station.

New York State selected Sunrise Wind, a 924-megawatt wind farm that will be located more than 30 miles east of Montauk Point, as part of NYSERDA's inaugural competitive 2018 offshore wind solicitation. Construction is anticipated to start as early as 2023, with the wind farm expected to be fully operational in 2025. More information about New York's nation-leading offshore wind program can be found here.

Today's announcement supports the development of New York State's nation-leading offshore wind project pipeline, which currently has five projects in active development, the largest portfolio in the nation. This initial portfolio totals more than 4,300 megawatts, will power more than 2.4 million New York homes, and is expected to bring a combined economic impact of $12.1 billion to the state. In February, Governor Hochul celebrated the start of construction for South Fork Wind, which will become operational in late 2023 and is expected to eliminate up to six million tons of carbon emissions, or the equivalent of taking 60,000 cars off the road annually.

Combined, the five projects are expected to create more than 6,800 jobs in project development, component manufacturing, installation, operations and maintenance. To establish New York as the nation's primary hub for offshore wind and support the State's climate goals, Governor Hochul also announced in October the successful land transfer to bring a National Offshore Wind Training Center to New York.

New York State's Nation-Leading Climate Plan

New York State's nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act New York is on a path to achieve its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economy wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York's unprecedented investments to ramp-up clean energy including over $21 billion in 91 large-scale renewable projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce buildings emissions, $1.8 billion to scale up solar, more than $1 billion for clean transportation initiatives, and over $1.2 billion in NY Green Bank commitments. Combined, these investments are supporting more than 150,000 jobs in New York's clean energy sector in 2019, a 2,100 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011 and a commitment to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. Under the Climate Act, New York will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at least 35 percent with a goal of 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments are directed to disadvantaged communities, and advance progress towards the state's 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs of end-use energy savings.