Governor Kathy Hochul Signs Clean Energy Transmission Acceleration Act to Unlock 6 GW of Upstate Power

ALBANY, N.Y. — Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Renewable Action Through Project Interconnection and Deployment (RAPID) Act into law on Monday, creating a consolidated state permitting authority within the Department of Public Service to streamline approvals for major electric transmission lines and renewable generation facilities.

The statute addresses the historic "tale of two grids" bottleneck in New York, where abundant clean hydroelectric, solar, and onshore wind generation in upstate and northern counties has been constrained from flowing to high-demand downstate load centers in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County due to congested 345-kV transmission corridors.

Accelerating Major Clean Transmission Corridors Under the RAPID Act, the newly established Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission (ORES) is mandated to issue definitive final permit determinations for major transmission lines within twelve months of application completeness.

"New York cannot meet its nation-leading climate goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act without the transmission infrastructure to move clean power from where it is generated to where it is consumed," Governor Hochul said during the signing ceremony in Albany. "The RAPID Act cuts through redundant bureaucratic silos, ensuring that we build critical high-voltage transmission lines quickly, create thousands of green union jobs, and replace aging fossil-fuel peaker plants in downstate communities."

Key Transmission Projects Moving Forward The streamlined framework directly benefits major queued transmission corridors, including:

• Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE): A 339-mile buried high-voltage direct current (HVDC) line delivering 1,250 MW of clean Canadian hydropower to Queens.
• Clean Path NY: A 175-mile combined HVDC line delivering 3,800 MW of upstate solar and wind power to New York City.
• Smart Path Connect: Modernizing 100 miles of transmission lines in northern New York.

Environmental justice advocates and building trades union leaders commended the law, highlighting that closing downstate fossil fuel generation will dramatically reduce localized particulate emissions and respiratory illnesses in South Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens neighborhoods.