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New York’s Public Service Commission approved two utility thermal energy networks, in Haverstraw and Buffalo, with a combined projected cost of $111.5 million. The projects will test whether utilities can use underground and recovered waste heat to serve buildings with electric heating, while nine other proposals were rejected.
New York’s Public Service Commission has approved two utility thermal energy networks in Haverstraw and Buffalo, authorizing plans with a combined cost of $111.5 million to test alternatives to fossil-gas heating. The projects are expected to serve homes, public and commercial buildings, and low-income housing, while nine other proposed networks were rejected.
In Haverstraw, Orange & Rockland plans to spend $50 million on a network serving up to 30 buildings, including single- and multifamily homes, commercial and government properties, and an elementary school. The system is planned to draw heat from borefields drilled on municipal land and recover heat from wastewater in the town’s sewer system.
In Buffalo, National Fuel Gas plans to spend $61 million to combine heat from boreholes with wastewater heat recovery. The network is intended to serve low-income multifamily housing and displace part of the fossil-gas boiler use in the city’s existing district heating system, which supplies municipal and private buildings.
The commission’s approvals will draw on $93 million in state funding to offset costs to the utilities’ customers. That funding is part of a $150 million state commitment to thermal networks. According to the report, the nine rejected proposals would have required utilities to collect about $1 billion from customers to build.
Testing Heat Networks at Scale
The approvals give New York a chance to test whether utilities can shift from delivering fossil gas to operating systems that provide heat through shared thermal infrastructure. The networks use water or other fluids to move heat captured underground or recovered from sources such as sewers and industrial facilities. That stable heat source can improve the performance of electric heat pumps, which can replace gas boilers and furnaces.
The outcome matters to customers because the projects will test both the systems’ performance and how their costs compare with the benefits. The state is using public funding to reduce the amount charged to utility customers, reflecting concern about adding costs for households already facing high energy bills. Results could inform whether similar networks are pursued elsewhere in New York, but the two projects alone will not settle the broader questions of affordability or scale.
The plans also touch on employment and utility investment. Supporters say thermal networks could give workers experienced in gas infrastructure, including pipefitters and plumbers, roles in building and maintaining new systems. That possibility is part of the coalition’s effort to pursue emissions reductions while retaining jobs; it is not yet a demonstrated outcome of these projects.
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A Partial Win for UpgradeNY
The projects follow four years of advocacy by UpgradeNY, a coalition of clean-energy, environmental, and labor groups. The coalition has urged state regulators to approve neighborhood-scale systems that could replace fossil-gas heating without discarding utility workers or abandoning all investment in underground infrastructure.
New York is among states exploring whether gas utilities can change their business model to deliver clean heat. Thermal networks already serve campuses, industrial areas, and cities in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America, but the approved New York projects are among a small number of utility-led efforts in the United States. The report describes them as the country’s second and third projects of their kind.
The decision was not a broad endorsement of the proposed program: regulators approved two plans and rejected nine, including proposals in New York City and other upstate communities. The rejection leaves the Haverstraw and Buffalo projects as the immediate tests of the approach in the state.
“From a workers’ rights and environmental justice standpoint, it’s a win-win.”
— Theodore Moore, executive director of The Alliance for a Greater New York and a member of UpgradeNY
Costs and Performance Still Unproven
It remains unclear whether the two networks will deliver enough customer and climate benefits to justify the costs of construction and operation. The source report says the economics of installing and running these systems have not yet been established at the scale proposed. The $93 million state contribution is intended to offset customer costs, but the final financial impact on utility customers and the long-term cost of service are not specified.
The approved plans are still advancing through design, so final details—including construction schedules, the number of buildings ultimately connected, and how much fossil-fuel use each network will displace—remain unsettled. The commission’s reasons for rejecting each of the other nine proposals, and whether any could be revised or resubmitted, are also not detailed in the source material.
Supporters argue that continued spending on gas pipelines could leave customers paying for infrastructure as gas use declines, and that pipeline investment conflicts with the state’s climate mandates. Those are arguments from project advocates; the reported approval does not establish the comparative costs or emissions results of the proposed networks.
Design Work Sets the Next Stage
The Haverstraw and Buffalo projects are moving into further design work, according to the source report. That work will need to define how the heat sources, distribution pipes, buildings, and existing heating systems will be connected, as well as the schedule for construction and operation.
As those details develop, the central test will be whether the networks can provide dependable heat and reduce reliance on fossil-gas boilers at a cost customers and state officials consider acceptable. The source report does not provide specific dates for construction, service commencement, or a commission review of project results. Any wider expansion is likely to depend on what the two approved projects show about performance, costs, and customer impacts.
Key Questions
Which two New York thermal network projects were approved?
The Public Service Commission approved plans in Haverstraw and Buffalo. Orange & Rockland is the utility behind the Haverstraw plan, and National Fuel Gas is behind the Buffalo plan.
How much will the two projects cost?
The plans have a combined projected cost of $111.5 million: $50 million for Haverstraw and $61 million for Buffalo. The commission’s order will use $93 million in state funds to offset costs to the utilities’ customers.
How will the networks provide heat?
Both plans include heat from underground boreholes and wastewater heat recovery. The Haverstraw network is planned to serve up to 30 buildings, while Buffalo’s plan would serve low-income multifamily housing and displace some fossil-gas boiler use in an existing district heating system.
Did New York approve all the proposed networks?
No. Regulators approved two proposals and rejected nine. The source report says the rejected projects included proposals in New York City and other upstate communities.
When will the networks begin operating?
The source report says the projects are advancing to further design work but does not give construction or service-start dates. Final schedules and the expected number of connected buildings remain unclear.
Source: rss
