11.30.22 - Hochul announces start of construction on Champlain Hudson Power Express
' Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced the start of construction on the Champlain Hudson Power Express, a 339-mile transmission line that will deliver hydropower from Canada to New York City.
The news comes the same day the New York Independent System Operator warned that plans to retire gas-fired generation and shift to electric over the next decade pose future risks to electric grid reliability. The regulatory body, which monitors the state power system's reliability, warned that major projects like the CHPE “must stay on schedule” to ensure the grid can meet future demand.
Hochul and top energy officials announced the groundbreaking in the village of Whitehall, where officials will bury 17.6 miles of the transmission line. Construction between Whitehall and the town of Putnam will last through November 2024. Once complete, the CHPE will deliver 1,250 megawatts of hydroelectricity, enough to power one million homes and reduce carbon emissions by 37 million metric tons statewide.
Hochul said the project will aid the fight against climate change, which entails meeting a state mandate to secure 70 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
“We’re really the first generation to feel the effects of climate change, but we’re the last ones that can do anything about it,” Hochul said.
The CHPE is expected to be fully operational in spring 2026. It was originally slated for 2025, and developers have blamed the delay on “a longer than anticipated regulatory review process and supply chain logistics for key construction components.”
“Thousands of members of New York labor unions, communities that will receive significant tax benefits, and residents of polluted neighborhoods will soon begin sharing in both the construction, financial, and environmental benefits of this 339 mile project,” Donald Jessome, CEO of Transmission Developers Inc., said in a statement.
TDI is a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group that is carrying out the $6 billion project. Hydro-Québec, a Canadian public utility, will supply the electricity using its existing hydropower dams in Quebec. '
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