Author: Corey Clark

Application of Queensboro Development, LLC for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need to Construct, Operate and Maintain Approximately 18.5 miles of Transmission Lines from the Boundary of New York State Waters to Points of Interconnection in Queens, New York and Associated Equipment.

Pursuant to Article VII of the New York Public Service Law, Queensboro Development, LLC (the “Applicant”) is providing public notice of its intent to file an application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need (“Certificate”) for the proposed construction, operation and maintenance of the portions of the Queensboro Renewable Express offshore transmission system (the “Queensboro Renewable Express”) that are located in New York State.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT on or about December 2, 2022, the Applicant will file an application (the “Application”) in the above-entitled matter with the New York State Public Service Commission (the “Commission”) for a Certificate pursuant to Article VII of the Public Service Law for the portion of the Queensboro Renewable Express that is located in New York State, which includes approximately 18.5 miles of submarine transmission lines from the boundary of New York State Waters to points of interconnection in Queens, New York and associated onshore equipment (the “Project”). The Project is necessary to assist New York State in achieving its clean energy goals and mandates under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in that it will transmit wind energy from offshore wind facilities in federal waters into New York Independent System Operator (“NYISO”) Load Zone J in New York City and will facilitate the ultimate retirement of existing fossil fuel generating facilities.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT: The Project will consist of two discrete high voltage direct current (“HVDC”) symmetric monopole circuits, each capable of delivering approximately 1,150 megawatts to 1,310 megawatts (“MW”) into NYISO Zone J at the site of the existing Ravenswood generating facility (the “Ravenswood Site”).  Each of the two Project circuits, defined as “Queensboro Circuit A” and “Queensboro Circuit B,” will consist of: (i) a submarine HVDC conductor cable assembly with a fiber optic communications cable, buried in its own discrete trench within a single submarine cable corridor approximately 18.5 miles (16.1 nautical miles) long from the boundary of New York state waters to a cable landfall location at the Ravenswood Site in Queens, New York and (ii) an HVDC converter station, a new substation and underground cables to be located on the Ravenswood Site and that will interconnect to the NYISO bulk electric system at the adjacent Rainey and Vernon substations owned and operated by Con Edison.  

The portions of the Queensboro Renewable Express located outside of New York, and which are not subject to Public Service Law Article VII, include offshore infrastructure comprised of: (i) platform(s) to be located in a host BOEM lease area located in the federal waters of the Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”), consisting of either a combined or separate HVDC converter and alternating current (“AC”) collector mesh-ready platform, and (ii) an HVDC conductor cable assembly bundled with a fiber optic communications cable, installed in a discrete trench within an HVDC submarine cable corridor and traversing from the offshore platform(s) through the federal waters of the OCS, then into New Jersey State Waters for approximately 6.1 miles (5.3 nautical miles), to the boundary of New York State Waters, with an additional 3.6 mile (3.2 nautical mile) segment within New Jersey State waters in the Upper New York Bay.

DATES AND COPIES OF THE ARTICLE VII FILING: The Applicant expects to file the Application with the Commission on or about December 2, 2022. A copy of the Application will be filed with the Commission and will be available on the Department of Public Service website (www.dps.ny.gov) once the Commission assigns a case number to the Project. Additional information can be found on the Project website at https://www.queensbororenewableexpress.com. A copy of the Application will also be served upon the Mayor of the City of New York, the Queens Borough President, the Brooklyn Borough President, the Manhattan Borough President, the Staten Island Borough President, and other statutorily-required parties, and will be available for public inspection in the local public libraries set forth below, including branches of the New York Public Library (“NYPL”):