Deepwater Wind - Energy Highway

BY COURIER AND ELECTRONIC MAIL
May 30, 2012
Gil C. Quiniones
Co-Chair, Energy Highway Task Force
President & CEO
New York Power Authority
123 Main Street, 16 th Floor
White Plains, NY 10601-3170
RE: Response to Energy Highway RFI
Dear Mr. Quiniones:
Deepwater Wind (“Deepwater”) is pleased to submit this response to the Energy Highway
Request for Information (RFI) released on April 11, 2012.
The Governor’s Energy Highway is a bold and visionary initiative that creates a singular
opportunity for New York State to upgrade its electric infrastructure to meet the needs of a 21stcentury
economy. Achieving the goals of the Energy Highway will require a portfolio of
solutions that balance the need to ensure a long-term supply of reliable and cost-effective energy
with the state’s commitment to an environmentally sustainable future.
Offshore wind energy, when combined with new regional HVDC transmission systems, can help
New York meet the Governor’s ambitious goals. The Deepwater Wind Energy Center (DWEC),
a 900 MW offshore wind farm coupled with an HVDC transmission network linking eastern
Long Island to southern New England, is scheduled to be in operations beginning in 2017. As
the first offshore extension of New York’s Energy Highway, DWEC will deliver clean,
renewable energy into NYISO’s Zone K and also provide a first ever interconnection with ISO-
NE’s SEMA zone. The project’s net impact to ratepayers, when all benefits are considered, is
comparable to the long-term costs of a new fossil fuel plant built on Long Island.
Although DWEC is the most actionable utility-scale offshore project due to its advanced
development, New York also enjoys close proximity to additional offshore sites with robust wind