| | June 20218IN MY OPINIONWalter Alvarado, Vice President, System & Transmission Operation, Con EdisonByCon Edison Customers Want Clean Energy; Technology and Company's Commitment Are Making it Possible for Them to Get ItAfter decades of little change in their business model, companies that provide the energy to light, heat, and cool Americans' homes and businesses are embracing a new mission.Energy companies are using technology and deep analysis of rich data to contribute to a cleaner future, and Con Edison is at the forefront of this transition.Safety and reliability remain industry imperatives. But now, forward-thinking, sociallyresponsible utilities across the country have added a third one: taking the environment into account in every decision we make.Con Edison recently took another step in its leadership of this movement when it gained New York State Public Service Commission approval to invest $780 million in three important transmission projects. These projects will help move renewable energy­including 9,000 megawatts of planned offshore windto-population pockets.Our company proposed these Reliable Clean City Projects in anticipation of the retirement of "peaker" generating units with a capacity of 15 megawatts or more. Those fossil fuel-fired, simple-cycle combustion turbines run at times of high demand and are low in efficiency and high in emissions. In New York, electricity usage peaks during the summer when air quality is worst.The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said in 2019 these units must greatly limit their nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions or go out of service. The transmission lines will connect to areas where these peaking plants are located and ensure that our system remains reliable once the peaking plants stop operating. One line will run between a pair of substations in northern Queens; a second will connect substations in southern Brooklyn; and the third will traverse northern Staten Island.
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