New York City has begun construction work to hook up its power grid with a planned 546-kilometre-long transmission line that will carry electricity from hydropower plants in the Canadian province of Quebec. Once completed, the $6 billion project aims to provide New York City with 1250 megawatts of renewable energy.
The centrepiece of the Champlain Hudson Power Express 鈥� known as CHPE, pronounced 鈥渃hippy鈥� 鈥� 听is to be a buried high-voltage, direct current transmission line that runs underground, passing beneath land and bodies of water including Lake Champlain and the Hudson River. When finished, it will be the longest power transmission line in the US to run entirely underground and underwater.
鈥淧eople won鈥檛 even know it鈥檚 there, and yet it鈥檚 going to be able to power [homes] with clean energy,鈥� said New York state Governor Kathy Hochul during the 19 September 2023 groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of work on the converter plant that will connect the power line to the city鈥檚 power grid. 鈥淥ne million homes in New York City will be powered by this facility.鈥�
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CHPE is scheduled to go operational in spring 2026. The hydropower-generated electricity it carries from Canada鈥檚 Hydro-Qu茅bec public utility will allow New York City and New York state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 37 million metric tonnes between 2025 and 2040 鈥� equivalent to taking half a million cars off the city鈥檚 streets.
The electricity carried by CHPE will provide 20 per cent of New York state鈥檚 power needs, an important piece of its mandated goal of getting 70 per cent of all its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. CHPE should also help New York City鈥檚 efforts to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
The start of construction work on the CHPE project represents a 鈥渕ajor milestone for the clean energy transition鈥�, says at the Niskanen Center, an environmental think tank based in Washington, D.C. Such long-distance transmission projects are 鈥渃rucial to combating climate change and enabling electrification鈥�.
Although the CHPE transmission line project was 15 years in the planning, its development strategy of getting local communities and environmentalists onboard while obtaining the necessary permits could provide a blueprint for other projects, says Cavert. Plans for similar transmission lines elsewhere in the US have sometimes stalled due to local concerns and competing interests.
The project will allow US energy company Con Edison to retire the fossil fuel-burning plants that have historically bolstered New York City鈥檚 power grid. This should reduce the harmful impacts of associated air pollution 鈥� particularly in the Astoria neighbourhood of New York City, part of which has been dubbed 鈥淎sthma Alley鈥� because of its poor air quality.
鈥淟et me remind folks that many of those individuals who have encountered the highest asthma rates of public housing residents live in Queensbridge Houses in Astoria,鈥� said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards during the groundbreaking event. 鈥淭his is an investment in them to ensure that we鈥檙e never back here again as we talk about disparities in the impacts of climate change, especially on health.鈥�
Quebec Premier Fran莽ois Legault, who also attended the event, described the hydropower contract with New York as part of a broader goal for his Canadian province to 鈥渂ecome the green battery of eastern North America鈥�.
The CHPE transmission line will connect at the US-Canadian border with a power transmission line that is co-owned by the Mohawk community of Kahnaw脿:ke, one of Canada鈥檚 First Nations Indigenous groups.
鈥淭hinking of all the decisions that we鈥檙e going to make today, we have to consider the impacts [they鈥檙e] going to have on the faces yet to come for seven generations,鈥� said Grand Chief Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer of the Mohawk Council of Kahnaw脿:ke, speaking at the groundbreaking event.
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