New York Climate Resiliency Plan
National Grid’s 2023 Climate Change Resilience Plan Approved by the New York Public Service Commission
On December 19, 2024, the Public Service Commission (PSC) approved National Grid’s Climate Change Resilience Plan with modifications. National Grid had filed our Climate Change Resilience Plan (Plan) with the PSC on November 21, 2023. The Plan proposed capital investments to address priority vulnerabilities (i.e., (1) extreme heat, (2) inland flooding, (3) high winds, and (4) ice) identified in the Company’s September 22, 2023, Climate Change Vulnerability Study (Study). In approving our Plan, the PSC found that National Grid’s Climate Plan generally satisfied the legislative requirements. However, the Commission directed us to reclassify the Spare Transmission Line Structures Program as a non-resiliency investment and remove it from the Plan.
The Commission order requires all utilities to provide more explicit process and design changes with respect to climate change projections, define engagement strategies for proposed resilience measures that could impact telecommunication service providers, and include implementation- and outcome-based performance benchmarks for all proposed resilience measures in future updates to the plans and upcoming progress reports. Utilities must file an updated climate change resilience plan with the Commission every five years.
In its decision, the Commission also directed the utilities to include proposed resilience investments as part of ongoing and future rate case proceedings. To that end, Resilience initiatives are part of the ongoing Niagara Mohawk Rate Case spending plans and subject to the outcome of that proceeding.
It is crucial that National Grid maintains the continuity of energy delivery services to our customers and the communities we serve. And building network infrastructure that is reliable and resilient is more important than ever as we face more severe weather events in the face of climate change.
National Grid is committed to urgent action to address climate change as we’ve outlined in our vision for a fossil free future, but we all must recognize that climate change is no longer a future threat but a current threat based on the extreme climate hazards we are witnessing today.
To address these goals and challenges, National Grid launched its climate vulnerability study to help prepare for the increase in severe weather expected from climate change. The study provided a new way for us to evaluate the Company’s electric infrastructure, design specifications, and procedures to better understand our electric system’s vulnerability to climate-driven risks.
Based on the study results, we created a Resilience Plan that has been submitted to the New York Public Service Commission (PSC).
This page will serve as the central source for our process and plans, aligned to the following timeline:
Meeting Presentations and Recordings:
January 29th, 2025 CRWG Meeting
- PSC Order approving our Plan
- PSC press release about the Dec order
- December newsletter
- Presentation Deck: Climate Resilience Working Group
- Recording:
June 27th, 2024 CRWG Meeting
- Presentation Deck: Climate Change Vulnerability Study and Resilience Plan
- Recording:
Previous Presentations and Recordings:
- October 18th, 2023 CRWG Meeting [
Recording] - Climate Change Vulnerability Study Report, September 2023
- Climate Change Vulnerability Study and Resilience Plan, Community Leader Update, August 2023
- Climate Resilience Working Group Update, August 2023
- June 5th CRWG Meeting [ Recording]
- 2-13-23 Stakeholder Climate Resilience Working Group Presentation
- Climate Vulnerability and Resilience Plan Working Group (CRWG) Overview
- 8-17-22 Community Leader Webinar Presentation [ Recording]
- 12-14-22 Climate Change Vulnerability Study & Resilience Plan Presentation
Please email us at box.NYClimateresiliency@nationalgrid.com if you would like to be invited to our Climate Resilience Working Group.
Frequently Ask Questions:
It’s crucial that National Grid continues to reliably deliver energy that our customers and communities need. By performing this study, we can develop an understanding of the new climate science and projected extreme weather, assess the potential impacts of climate change on operations, planning, and physical assets, and consider benefit-cost analysis for everyday planning and operations to improve resilience.
The impacts of climate change and events that impact our networks can take on many forms. The study and plan will consider a variety of potential climate-driven factors, ranging from severe temperatures, humidity, precipitation, flooding, and extreme weather events like the recent Winter Storm Elliott.
Get Involved
You may also file comments with the Public Service Commission in case # 22-E-0222 by going to the following link: https://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/Comments/PublicComments.aspx?MatterCaseNo=22-E-0222
Enabling our customers and communities to meet their heating needs without using fossil fuels by 2050.
Read more about our energy vision