What Makes the Grid “Clean”? Controversies and Paradoxes of New York’s Energy Transition

Bottlenecks in electric transmission have created uneven flows of electricity within grids, plaguing efforts to transition off fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources. New York State is confronting these challenges, faced with a climate policy necessitating new renewable power flows. To enable transmission investments, the state created a market-based solicitation and reconstructed what counts as clean energy. The awarded projects, intended to “green the grid,” introduced new environmental justice (EJ) concerns around infrastructure siting while statewide emissions paradoxically increased. New York’s case highlights the socio-political dimensions of the grid and contributes to a larger conversation on new models of governance to address disconnects and mitigate the tradeoffs inherent in clean energy transitions.