Report: NY's power supply ran low during blizzard - WWNY

Report: NY's power supply ran low during blizzard

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - New York state’s power supply ran critically low during last year’s Christmas blizzard according to a new report.

Natural gas is used to make electricity and during the blizzard, the state ran low on natural gas supply, threatening blackouts at perhaps the coldest time of year.

Local lawmakers, though, believe here in the north country the worry shouldn’t be as much as for those downstate.

“The blackouts aren’t likely to happen in northern New York,” said Senator Mark Walczyk (R. - 49th District).

In a recent report, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation said the state narrowly dodged a crisis during that time.

“I think this report points out the fact that some of this renewable generation is not reliable. So therefore we can’t depend upon it to meet our base load energy needs,” said Assemblyman Scott Gray (R. - 116th District).

However, the north country does not need to be as concerned about energy needs as residents in more heavily populated areas of the state like New York City.

“We have a lot of hydro facilities, we’ve got some solar, we’ve got some wind. We’ve got nuclear power facilities just to the south of us,” said Walczyk.

Vice President of External Affairs for New York’s Independent System Operator Kevin Lanahan agrees.

“We were able to maintain electric service in New York State in large part because many of our generating units are able to switch fuels during times of high demand and stress on the gas system. Our diverse resource mix provides a significant reliability benefit,” he said in a prepared statement.

The state’s Department of Public Service says the stresses on the grid are not coming from inside New York, but from across state lines.

“This emergency was caused by an out-of-state shortage, and reliability on interstate pipelines and producers do not fall under New York’s jurisdiction,” DPS said in a statement.

The governor’s office issued this statement:

“Governor Hochul’s top priority is the safety of New Yorkers. New York has some of the highest legally-mandated reliability standards and safety requirements for the gas distribution system. Out of state supply issues impact reliability here in New York which is why Governor Hochul has called for federal action to establish stricter reliability standards on producers and pipelines, mitigating operational problems from out-of-state.”

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