In last week’s State of the State address, New York Governor Kathy Hochul previewed the Renewable Action Through Project Interconnection and Deployment (“RAPID”) Act – a proposal to streamline and expedite the siting and permitting of major electric transmission infrastructure in NY to facilitate the achievement of the State’s ambitious energy and climate goals established by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (“CLCPA”) in 2019.
The RAPID Act, which was included as Part O of the Transportation, Economic Development, and Environmental Conservation Bill in the 2025 Executive Budget proposal released on January 16, would (i) move the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (“ORES”) from the Department of State to the Department of Public Service, and (ii) transfer jurisdiction over siting major transmission facilities from the Public Service Commission under Article VII of the Public Service Law to ORES. In its new home, ORES would be known as the Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission.
To effectuate these changes, the RAPID Act would also repeal Executive Law Section 94-c, which established ORES in its current form, and amend the Public Service Law to insert the substantive language of Section 94-c. As part of this statutory change, the RAPID Act would establish Public Service Law Article VIII - Siting of Renewable Energy and Electric Transmission Siting.
The new Article VIII will govern the siting and permitting of both major renewable energy generation and major electric transmission facilities. As the RAPID Act appears to maintain all the requirements of Section 94-c, the siting process for major renewable energy generation projects will not change as a result of this legislation, but there will be significant changes to the manner in which major electric transmission facilities are reviewed and sited. These major changes include:
- Establishing a 120-day period in which ORES must issue a finding determining if the transmission facility’s application is complete, and where such deadline is not met, providing that the application will automatically be deemed complete (the completeness determination period for generation facilities will remain 60 days from application submission);
- Establishing uniform standards and conditions for the siting, design, construction, and operation of all transmission facilities (similar to what is currently done for generation facilities);
- Requiring ORES to issue draft permit conditions within 60 days of the completeness determination for public comment (in effect, this will eliminate the albatross of the Article VII process –the settlement process); and
- Requiring permit decisions on transmission applications be made within 1 year of the date the application was deemed complete and if no such decision is made, automatically granting the permit most cases (unless a portion of the facility is located on property where the applicant does not have an agreement with the landowner for the right-of-way), though the applicant and ORES can agree to extend this deadline.
If enacted, these changes would be marked improvements to transmission permitting in New York State. This bill would establish clear and concise timelines in a process that, even with recent improvements, still averages 2-3 years in length from application submittal to the issuance of the Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need.
The RAPID Act requires ORES, DPS, and other state agencies to issue the standardized permit conditions within eighteen months of the effective date of the Act (which, if passed as part of the Budget Bill, would be in approximately October 2025), at which point all new proposed transmission facilities will be subject to Article VIII. Those projects pending under Article VII may transfer to the new process.
Despite early rumors that the RAPID Act would also cover the siting of large-scale standalone energy storage, jurisdiction over such projects was not included in the bill and therefore continues to be left to local municipalities.
Though energy and environmental advocates are still working to understand the details of the RAPID Act, it is no secret that New York’s transmission siting process has been long overdue for expediting updates to achieve the CLCPA, and therefore the general concept of the Act has been warmly received. ACE-NY Interim Director Deb Peck Kelleher stated earlier this week, “There have been many roadblocks to getting renewable energy projects to completion, and despite the improvements we have seen at the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES), a more streamlined and efficient process is needed in New York. We are reviewing the details of the governor’s proposed RAPID Act with great interest, but in general, it makes sense that this vital state office would fall under the purview of the Department of Public Service.”
Stay tuned to Foley Hoag’s Energy and Climate Counsel blog in the coming weeks as we provide a more fulsome review of the RAPID Act and its potential implications for New York’s clean energy goals and the developers working to help the state achieve them.
