Electricity prices are rising across New York, and understanding what drives those costs has never been more important. In this Power Trends podcast, NYISO Vice President of Market Structures Shaun Johnson breaks down the factors shaping today’s electricity supply charges and explains how wholesale markets produce the most cost-efficient solutions to meet consumer demand. 

Wholesale electricity supply costs have been climbing as natural gas prices — New York’s primary fuel for electricity — have nearly doubled in the past year. Most of what customers pay goes toward utility delivery charges, taxes, and other non-supply components. 

Electricity bills can be confusing, but Johnson breaks down the two primary charges: 

• The supply cost makes up approximately one third of your bill. 
• The other two thirds are the retail rates your utility company charges plus taxes and fees.

The physical composition of the gas pipeline infrastructure factors into retail delivery costs as well. Because New York and New England sit at the tail end of a pipeline network that originates in the Colorado Rockies and the Gulf Coast, delivery costs to northeastern states are among the highest in the nation.
As the state moves toward greater electrification and new large loads emerge, demand is expected to keep growing. At the same time, aging generation and long lead times for new resources are tightening supply. These realities put upward pressure on prices too.

“Our market philosophy has always been sort of simple,” Johnson notes, “how do we keep the lights on at the lowest cost via competition.”

Check out the complete podcast to explore how wholesale markets function, what’s driving today’s costs, and how NYISO works to maintain grid reliability at the lowest cost — even when fuel prices surge.

More resources

Please visit our new winter pricing resource page to explain what's behind rising costs.

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New York’s electric grid is at an inflection point. In the latest Power Trends podcast, Senior Vice President of System and Resource Planning Zach Smith unpacks two critical reliability reports recently issued by the NYISO: the Comprehensive Reliability Plan (CRP) and the 2025 Third Quarter Short-Term Assessment of Reliability (STAR).

These studies reveal the grid’s mounting challenges—from aging generation and accelerating power plant retirements to surging demand driven by electrification and large-scale industrial projects. Extreme weather and supply chain constraints add complexity in planning for the future, Smith says.

He notes that assumptions over the next 10 years must also consider a reduced ability to depend on electricity imports from neighboring grids in the future.

“We are part of the Eastern Interconnection and it’s one of the most amazing machines in the world—it’s the entire eastern half of North America,” says Smith, explaining that it has long been a key factor in supporting reliability. “However, our neighbors are experiencing these same strained conditions that we are.” 

To address these uncertainties, the NYISO is proposing to shift from a single forecast approach to one that considers multiple plausible futures to examine reliability under a range of scenarios. He highlights the urgent need for dispatchable resources to complement the build-out of renewables and energy storage, and the importance of projects like the Champlain Hudson Power Express for New York City and Long Island.

Check out the full episode to learn how NYISO is adapting its planning process to maintain reliability during this pivotal moment. The current energy landscape requires an “all of the above” approach to generation, transmission, and demand-side solutions.

Additional Resources:

·        2025-2034 Comprehensive Reliability Plan (CRP)

·        Short-Term Assessment of Reliability: 2025 Quarter 3 (STAR)

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In Episode 40 of the Power Trends podcast, NYISO Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Emilie Nelson offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the grid was managed during June’s heatwave, which brought record-setting temperatures across the Northeast. Nelson walks through the critical decisions and emergency measures that helped ensure adequate supply margins across New York. 

According to Nelson, forecasting, demand response, and a mix of energy resources—including solar and wind—helped manage the system during a period of sustained heat. The episode also covers the NYISO’s new Grid Alert System, which communicated system conditions in real time. Energy Watch and Energy Warning alerts were issued to the public over the course of the three-day event when reserves dipped below 2,620 and 1,964 megawatts, respectively.

Nelson also describes how the NYISO prepares for periods of high demand, and how coordination among neighboring grid operators plays a critical role in maintaining system reliability.

Listen to Episode 40 of Power Trends to learn more about how the grid is managed during extreme weather events. Visit our System Conditions page to learn more about the Grid Alert System.

Additional Resources
June Heatwave Tests Electric Grid in New York

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The electric system is undergoing rapid and instrumental change on a scale not experienced since 1892 when Thomas Edison first electrified the Pearl Street station in lower Manhattan. In the NYISO’s latest podcast, President & CEO Rich Dewey, and Executive Vice President & COO Emilie Nelson discuss how these changes are impacting grid reliability, supply resources and planning the electric system for the future. Diving into the NYISO’s recently released Power Trends report with Kevin Lanahan, podcast host and Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications, they highlight how every plausible option and opportunity to bolster reliability and resource needs should be on the table.

The conversation includes discussion of the following Power Trends 2025 key messages: 

• Generator deactivations are outpacing new supply additions. Electrification programs and new large-load customers associated with economic development initiatives are pushing projected demand higher. Together, these forces are also narrowing reliability margins across New York and increasing the risk of future reliability needs.
• As public policy goals seek to decarbonize the grid, fossil-fired generation will be needed for reliable power system operations until the capabilities it offers can be supplied by other resources. Energy efficiency and Demand-Side Management (DSM) will continue to play a key role in reducing energy consumption, lowering costs, and mitigating environmental impacts.
• Repowering aging power plants can lower emissions, meet rising consumer demand, and provide reliability benefits to the grid that are needed to integrate additional clean energy resources.
• New York is projected to become a winter-peaking electric system by the 2040s, driven primarily by electrification of space heating and transportation. On the coldest days, the availability of natural gas for power generation can be limited, and interruptions to natural gas supply will introduce further challenges for reliable electric grid operations.
• Driven by public policies, new supply, load, and transmission projects are seeking to interconnect to the grid at record levels. NYISO's interconnection processes continue to evolve to balance developer flexibility with the need to manage the process to more stringent timeframes. New processes have been implemented to accelerate the process while protecting grid reliability.
• The competitive wholesale electricity markets administered by the NYISO support reliability while minimizing costs to consumers. Competitive wholesale markets are essential to a reliable, affordable and cleaner grid of the future. 

Listen now to gain a better understanding of the complex challenges facing New York’s grid.

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Collaboration between the industry and government will be paramount to maintain robust wholesale markets and ensure grid reliability as the state continues to promote rapid development of renewable resources in the coming year.

That was the message from NYISO President and CEO Rich Dewey on the latest Power Trends podcast. In episode 38, Dewey reflected on his annual “State of the Grid” message to market participants and policymakers at the company’s Management Committee, highlighting several areas of focus that he says will drive the work of the NYISO in 2025.

Dewey outlined pillars necessary for a reliable clean energy transition and related ISO initiatives now underway. These include a major effort to examine options to modernize the capacity market and more accurately assess resources’ unique contributions to resource adequacy. Through NYISO planning studies, the organization also continues to examine declining reliability margins, additional transmission needs and extreme weather risks.  

“We've seen some dramatic changes, but one of the things that has not changed in this time period has been our steadfast commitment to the reliability of the power system and everything that we need to do to ensure that we can keep power flowing for New Yorkers,” Dewey said. “It's just so essential to the health, safety and economy of New York.”

In this latest episode of the Power Trends podcast, Dewey also reflected on 2024 and ongoing energy sector trends, including the retirement of legacy power plants, the electrification of housing and transportation, and the influx of large loads like data centers, chip fabrication and traditional manufacturing plants.  

 “There is a fantastic news story of economic development across New York state with the addition of factories and data centers,” Dewey said. “Planning for that load growth — which translates into job growth and expansion of the economy — is exciting, but it's also challenging from the standpoint of making sure we have a reliable electric system that can meet that demand.

Dewey highlighted NYISO innovations and successes over the past year including changes to the process of studying the reliability impacts of new generation and large loads that seek to connect to the grid. Hundreds of wind, solar and battery storage projects are currently being evaluated through the NYISO’s new streamlined process. 

Looking at the federal landscape, the NYISO is developing a compliance plan for FERC Order 1920, to strengthen the long-term regional transmission planning process, Dewey said.

Dewey also discussed the company’s emphasis on creating a “learning culture,” which he says is necessary for innovation in the modern-day energy sector. The NYISO has been able to recruit and develop a talented and diverse workforce prepared to meet the challenges ahead. 

As the NYISO works to build out a clean and reliable electric grid, the organization also continues to invest in its collaborative relationships with neighboring ISOs, RTOs, state and federal agencies and stakeholders, according to Dewey. 

“The electric system in the U.S. is one of the largest machines ever built. We're continuously dependent on our neighbors and the power systems that are adjacent to us,” Dewey said. “The ability to work collaboratively across the industry is going to continue to be crucial to our success.”

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As temperatures drop, New Yorkers turn up their thermostats and demand for electricity rises.

In anticipation of the cold season, the NYISO Operations team develops a winter preparedness report that evaluates the ability of the grid to meet demand on the coldest days of the year.

The NYISO’s 2024-25 Winter Assessment considers load forecast, the capacity of generators, the transmission system, and the availability of fuels that power fossil-fuel generators across the state.

This year’s Winter Assessment finds sufficient reliability margins under forecasted conditions, but in extreme cold weather, fuel shortages could affect those margins. 
 
In our latest Power Trends podcast, NYISO Vice President of Operations Aaron Markham discusses how his team works closely with generators, neighboring grid operators, and government agencies to prepare for the winter season and respond to challenges as they arise.

Listen to the podcast to learn more.

Read more:
New York’s Electric Grid Prepared to Meet Winter Demand Press Release

New York’s Winter Grid Reliability Challenges Fact Sheet

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How will the demand for electricity, a changing generation mix, and the transmission system evolve over the next 10 years? This is the question that our Reliability Needs Assessment (RNA) examines in order to assess and identify impacts to reliability.

In the latest Power Trends podcast, Senior VP of System & Resource Planning Zach Smith dives deep into the 2024 RNA to explain how the NYISO analyzes demand forecasts, seasonal variations, and the impact of electrification on heating and transportation to ensure the grid can meet future needs.

Smith covers report findings that include the identification a Reliability Need in New York City in the summer of 2033, as well as changing scenarios that could solve for the need. Additional topics covered in the conversation include the NYISO’s Interconnection Queue, large energy-intensive projects, and important grid investments such as the Champlain Hudson Power Express.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the future of New York’s power grid and the many scenarios that must be examined to ensure its reliability.

Listen now to learn more.

Additional Resources

• 2024 RNA Fact Sheet
• 2024 Reliability Needs Assessment 

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As the diversity and scale of energy resources have evolved in recent years, NYISO’s market design team has been working hard to create and implement market innovations to support those technologies.

The most recent example of NYISO's commitment to innovation is the launch of a first-in-the nation program to integrate aggregations of distributed energy resources (DER) into the wholesale electric markets. This ground-breaking program allows small-scale resources including solar, wind, battery storage, and fuel cells to be aggregated as a single, dispatchable resource.

In episode 35 of the Power Trends podcast, NYISO’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Emilie Nelson discusses the potential impacts of the DER program on New York's ambitious climate goals as well as NYISO's real-time management of the bulk power system.

"When we look at the clean energy policies of New York State, we really need to create a framework that allows investment in all technology options," said Nelson.

While the cumulative benefits of the DER program will take time to be fully realized, the new market design was lauded by Willie Phillips, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and former FERC Commissioner Allison Clement.

In the order that approved NYISO's DER market rules, they stated, "We are only now leaving the starting gates in unlocking the potential of DERs to provide reliability value to our grid, but that value will be essential to ensuring we meet new and emerging reliability challenges in the future in an efficient manner that protects customers. To date, NYISO has been at the forefront of developing a participation model for DERs and seeking to implement that model expeditiously."

NYISO forecasts distributed generation in the state to roughly double over the next three decades as the state strives to have 70% of its electricity generated by renewable resources by 2030 and achieve a zero-emission power grid by 2040.

Listen now to learn more about NYISO's DER program.

Additional Resources:

• DER Fact Sheet
• DER Press Release

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Our mission at the NYISO is to ensure power system reliability and competitive markets for New York in a clean-energy future, and to work with all stakeholders to build the cleanest, most reliable electric system in the nation. 

In keeping with our mission, we operate a capacity market to meet resource adequacy requirements and serve consumer demand. The capacity market acts as a transparent and cost-effective mechanism to avoid the danger of service interruptions and outages.

As older resources retire and new resources transform the way the system responds, capacity markets have become even more important to preserving system reliability. However, not every region in the U.S. has a capacity market to support reliability and resource adequacy. For example, Texas and California do not operate capacity markets. 

The Capacity Market’s demand curve reset process
In New York, the inputs that factor into the setting of capacity market prices are developed in a process known as the “demand curve reset.” In this episode of the Power Trends podcast, Shaun Johnson, Director of Marker Design, explains how the process works.

“The first thing we do is focus on proven technologies that meet system needs. We're trying to meet reliability for consumers at the lowest possible cost.” 

Referred to as “proxy units,” these technologies must be capable of responding to peak demand conditions and while meeting environmental and other regulatory requirements to operate in New York. Johnson explains the difficulty in transitioning from a generation fleet with one set of reliability attributes to one that is more intermittent, and weather dependent. 

The demand curve process assesses the cost to build and maintain capacity supply resources in order to be available when needed. That includes costs for equipment, construction, and financing, among others. 

Johnson describes the capacity market simply, “The capacity market is getting commitments from suppliers to help us meet reliability requirements and reduce the chances of the outages, even if they're not operating those facilities frequently.”

Listen now to learn more about the capacity market and the demand curve reset.

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When we talk about building a more sustainable future, the journey is as important as the destination. Steering the electric grid through these monumental changes requires leadership and creativity. 

As the NYISO’s Director of Grid Transition, Udayan Nair oversees the integration of new elements of the industry into our operations and planning functions and works to facilitate coordination across teams.

“A change of this magnitude is going to impact all parts of the organization,” Nair said. 
 “It's going to require the collaboration of the entire sector to be successful in this mission.”

New York’s ambitious climate agenda inspired Nair to relocate his family from Ontario to Albany last year to head up the grid transition team and make sure the organization is well-positioned for the future.

With combined expertise in demand forecasting, environmental engineering, gas and electric coordination and power system engineering, his team is tackling numerous challenges around the power system transition that is well underway.  

In our latest Power Trends podcast, Nair discussed some of these challenges, including the impacts of the electric system’s evolving demand profile, the retirement of thermal energy resources, extreme weather events, shrinking fuel security margins and questions around how renewable resources will interact with the grid. 

Nair’s department works proactively to formulate solutions to these problems. Increasing coordination between the NYISO’s operations and planning elements is the first step. They also perform detailed engineering studies to integrate inverter-based resources, assess the impact of environmental policy on the generation fleet, and provide real-time engineering support to the control room.

Maintaining grid reliability through this period of uncertainty is central to the NYISO’s mission. Data can help illuminate the path forward, Nair said. His department is now looking to add a data scientist who can support the department’s various functions and enhance the NYISO’s forecasting capabilities.  

Nair’s experience in three power sector verticals – transmission, generation, and system operations – has given him deep understanding of the grid and the conditions that must align to keep the system going.  

“It helped me understand and appreciate all the things that have to happen perfectly, so that when you turn on that light switch, the power comes on,” he said. 

Nair earned a Master of Engineering from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Toronto. In addition to working for multiple system operators, he has held positions at the electricity generator Ontario Power Generation, leading transmission owner Hydro One, and the vertically integrated utility company ENMAX.

New York’s climate plan raises complex questions, many of which have yet to be resolved, but the state is not alone in its effort to transition to a cleaner, greener electric system, Nair said. Maintaining a stable grid throughout the transition requires close coordination with neighboring system operators, especially during extreme weather events. 

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. When we look across the nation, everyone is embarking on this clean energy journey simultaneously,” Nair said. “Other ISOs are on different points in their journey, but they may have trialed certain techniques and practices which work very well. What can we learn from them?” 

Achieving New York’s clean energy goals will require collaboration with

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