Webinar: Future Proofing the NY Grid - Part 1 | June 17, 2026 | 12:00-1:15 PM Eastern Time

Just about everyone is aware of the rapid rise in our electric bills over the past few years. Some want to blame the “Green New Deal” and renewable energy projects, but the real causes involve a combination of an aging grid, extreme weather, rising inflation and equipment shortages, distorted utility business models, rising natural gas prices for peak load generation, and the addition of massive new energy demand from AI hyperscale data centers.

Complicated, right? And all of those pressures may only get worse without serious intervention and redesign of how we provide electricity to our homes, schools, and local businesses. Our first step needs to be widespread public understanding and engagement with the realities of our electric grid system. If we want policymakers to act on our behalf, we need to be informed enough to resist any false solutions or distorted framing that may circulate to our detriment.

Join us at noon on Wednesday, June 17 to hear from our expert panelists as we try to sort through the current issues that are creating reliability issues for our NY grid, and what we can do now to help those at risk while preventing energy burdens from rising even higher.

Our first panelist is Kevin Lanahan, Senior Vice President for External Affairs and Corporate Communications from the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). Kevin has 25 years of experience in the energy industry and is very familiar with grid operations. NYISO operates New York’s high-voltage transmission system, manages the state’s competitive wholesale electricity markets, and conducts comprehensive power system planning. Kevin will walk us through the basics of how the grid operates and the factors mentioned above that are impacting both cost and reliability of our electric system.

Our next speaker will be Laurie Wheelock, the Executive Director and General Counsel of the Public Utility Law Project (PULP). PULP is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization advocating for universal service, affordability, and customer protections for New York State utility consumers since 1981. Their organization’s mission is to educate the public about its legal rights as utility consumers; engage in research and advocacy; and provide legal representation for low-income utility consumers in electric, natural gas, telephone, and other utility related matters. PULP has been involved in the many rate cases before the PSC (Public Service Commission), advocating to protect consumers from the rapidly escalating electric delivery rates that our investor-owned utilities have imposed.

There is also a Q&A session for these two people who have been working the NY electric system from two very different vantage points for many years.

The Finger Lakes Forecast webinar series brings together regional experts, policymakers, and community leaders to explore how climate change is shaping our region and what we can do to prepare. Originally launched in 2022, the series creates space for meaningful conversations about resilience, adaptation and community action.

Watch the webinar here.

Additional Resources:

PULP’s Responses – Q&A Session for June 17 Webinar: Future Proofing the Grid Part I

Topic	Question	PULP’s Response
Data center legislation	Do you think Hochul will sign? or Veto? and isn’t this only for new DC and not expansions?	In July 2026, the Legislature passed the Responsible Data Center Development Act, which requires data center projects exceeding 20 MW of energy to wait a year, whether it is a new data center or a planned expansion. Read more about the bill here: NY State Assembly Bill 2025-A11560.Update: On July 14, 2026 Governor signed an Executive Order found here, which temporarily pauses State environmental permits for up to one year.
	The public is very concerned they will be supporting Data Centers business through higher costs to them – this is the biggest concern – how are we going to keep this from happening.	US Consumer Reports on AI Data Centers Impact on Electric bills, Water and more is a good recent assessment of estimated costs to consumers nationally. We at PULP also believe we need to address costs associated with their operation (higher supply and delivery costs). There are concerns that AI data centers will result in the need for more generation regardless of who owns it to match the necessary demand. In these situations, the state can further shield ratepayers from costs associated with building generation for AI data centers by requiring the procurement or the building costs relating to the connection to the electric grid and general operation of the center be borne by the AI data center alone, prior to proceeding with the project. Because of the evolving nature of the industry, build outs should require a capital down payment to protect against costs that current forecasts cannot fully account for.
NYSEG’s rates and operations	It is probably worth mentioning that NYSEG’s parent company (and thus NYSEG’s charges) is a for-profit company	NYSEG and the other state-regulated electric and gas companies in New York State are for-profit, regulated monopolies. There are two rates associated with the costs incurred by residential electric and gas customers: supply and delivery. Supply rates are costs associated with the procurement of electricity by utility companies and are directly passed onto consumers. Utilities are not allowed to profit from these rates. Variability of these costs are reflective of market fluctuations, similar to gas for vehicles. However, utility companies like NYSEG are legally allowed to profit from delivery rates. Delivery rates are approved through rate cases for the cost of distributing and providing electric and gas service to customers. Ratepayers are also responsible for the costs of maintaining and upgrading our electric and gas infrastructure through delivery rates. The increases that most customers experience on the delivery side are due to costs to replace, weatherize, and update parts of our fragile electric grid, which are approved through rate cases.In NYSEG’s latest rate case, the company proposed a 1-year increase in delivery rates in 2025. If approved, these revenue increases will support NYSEG’s major capital initiatives such as upgrading its billing systems and online portals, connecting more solar to the grid, vegetation management, and more to support grid reliability and resiliency. Regarding the issues identified in the latest audit, we’ve heard (as recently as the May Public Service Commission Session) that DPS and the Companies have been working on an implementation plan to come before the PSC addressing the management and operations audit findings. While we don’t have a concrete timeline and we don’t know what will be included in the plan, at Session, a senior DPS staff member indicated that the implementation plan could come before the PSC this summer. NYSEG’s latest rate case does discuss the replacement of existing wires with advanced conductors. In NYSEG and RG&E’s 2025 Direct Testimony on Electric Capital Expenditures Panel, the Company states that priority projects include those designed to mitigate thermal and voltage needs, including line reconductoring and rebuilds. You can find more information on a recently completed project in 2025 here: https://www.nyseg.com/w/nyseg-completes-53-million-project-updating-new-electric-lines-in-plattsburgh-area.PULP does not know if NYSEG plans to replace any existing wires with advanced conductors based on the capital plan from its latest rate case, but you can inquire with NYSEG or the Department of Public Service for more information on this matter. Regarding accountability and reliability, when the utility companies fail to meet their metrics, they are assessed penalties. The penalties generally don’t go back to customers as direct bill credits but instead, the current practice is that the penalties are used to offset other costs. The PSC prohibits utility companies from passing costs on to rate payers.
	What is the State doing to help lessen the extreme increase burden? can they float a bond to offset a significant % funds needed to update the system.Also what is being done to NYSEG regarding the major problems found in the recent audits?
	Is replacement of any existing wires with advanced conductors included in the NYSEG rate case?
	Is there follow-up and accountability assurances or “claw-back” mechanisms with utilities to ensure they meet delivery metrics following rate hike requests? What prevents utilities from passing these costs to customers?
	Why is nothing being done about how awful their billing department. My bill is WRONG almost every month in major amounts and most times they don’t have any explanation for budget billing is changed several times a year rather than just settling every 6 or 12 months.	Budget billing is a billing option that utility companies offer customers to standardize their utility payments each month. Once enrolled in budget billing, a standard amount is determined by the company that customers pay each month, typically about the amount of their average monthly bill. This budget amount may be reassessed every 3-4 months to determine if usage has changed and the installment is accurate. While this can benefit customers by helping them budget for unpredictable utility bills throughout the year, there also may be unforeseen consequences. At the end of the year, period, or disenrollment from budget billing, there may be a “true-up” that happens when the utility bills customers for their actual usage. If your monthly standard payment was lower than what your actual usage came out to be, you may encounter a very high bill all at once to represent the months where you underpaid. This is very common due to the increasing and volatile nature of electricity prices and delivery rates. For this reason, we caution customers about enrolling in budget billing. Sometimes, enrollment in the monthly discount program (EAP) or enrolling in a payment agreement may also enroll you in budget billing, and you may want to call NYSEG to confirm if you are in budget billing or not.General billing services are an issue that came up in NYSEG’s recent rate case. NYSEG cited in its petition that part of its proposed rate increases will be used to improve the Billing Department. As a party in this rate case and others, PULP is always advocating for more transparency and education for customers regarding their bills. If you think your bills are incorrect and/or your utility is unable to provide an explanation for high bills, you can file an inquiry or complaint with the Department of Public Service by calling their helpline at 800-342-3377.
Data centers	Are AI data centers constant loads or do they have peaks and troughs?	AI Data Centers pose unique challenges. Not only do they require hundreds of megawatts of power each, representing a significant load increase to the grid as a whole, but their power needs are also highly volatile. AI models require powerful computing equipment that results in higher energy, or ‘rack’ densities. Rack density refers to the amount of power consumed by the IT equipment within a server rack, measured in kilowatts (“kW”). Traditional data centers might run with lower rack densities, but the computational intensity of AI tasks, such as deep learning and neural network training, requires energy amounts that match that of a small city. High-density server farms introduce “bad harmonics,” where electricity flow exhibits voltage spikes and dips. These distortions can damage appliances, degrade service quality, and even cause massive fires, as documented in Northern Virginia. AI data centers’ significant load increases and volatility accelerate the need for new generation and transmission assets and hold significant potential to strain an already-vulnerable electric grid during peak loads.
Miscellaneous	Can we adopt widespread smart meters with real-time pricing and web apps to show the day ahead price and current real-time price so consumers can realize a market lever of a financial reason to voluntarily curtail discretionary consumption to save money and shave the peak. A key primary component of VPP.	The technology is feasible and available; however, the implementation has been challenged for the data privacy and security issues it presents. Pilot programs have been proposed and may become policy in the future.
	Does PULP have a position on Small Modular Reactors–Hochul’s proposal to develop these in NY State?	PULP does not currently have a position on Small Modular Reactors.

Author: Emily La

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Webinar: Future Proofing the NY Grid – Part 1 | June 17, 2026 | 12:00-1:15 PM Eastern Time

Author: Emily La

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