Overview
NYISOToolkit is a software tool that (among other uses) can be used to track and model New York State's progress toward achieving its power sector clean energy transition. It organizes publically available data from the New York Independent System Operatior (
NYISO) - the nonprofit organization that manages New York's wholesale electricity market. NYISOToolkit aims to be a tool to aid stakeholders (analysts, modelers, policymakers, etc) in obtaining insight and developing solutions that drive sustainable development of New York's energy infrastructure.
Motivation
NYISOToolkit was originally developed by
Zach Tzavelis during his
master's thesis, for which he modeled, analyzed, and communicated the feasibility of achieving New York clean energy goals. He decided to release the software publically to facilitate the sustainable development of New York State’s electric grid, and help other interested parties use NYISO data. Sustainable development is about meeting the needs of society without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. Over the past several years, countries around the world have begun taking action to decarbonize (reduce or eliminate emissions of greenhouse gases) beginning with the most impactful economics sectors such as power, transportation, industry, and buildings. Energy infrastructure is one of the biggest leverage points for decarbonization because of its deep ties to other sectors. Transitioning the power grid to cleaner and carbon-free energy sources, while maintaining its affordability, is critical to empowering people and ensuring that future generations can enjoy the same or better quality of life. Consequently, sustainable development solutions need to be feasible both from a technical and economic perspective; NYISOToolkit hopes to become a tool among many others to help make that happen for New York.
Capabilities
Tracking New York's progress toward achieving its clean energy goals is one of the most notable capabilities of NYISOToolkit. New York's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA 2019) mandates that 70% of NY’s electrical be served by renewable energy resources by 2030, and 100% of it be met by carbon-free sources by 2040. Specifically, the legislation states: "No later than June 13, 2021, the commission shall establish a program to require that: (A) A minimum of 70% of the state wide electric generation secured by jurisdictional load serving entities to meet the electrical energy requirements of all end-use customers in New York State in 2030 shall be generated by renewable energy systems; (B) and that by 2040 the statewide electrical demand system will be zero emissions." - (Source:
CLCPA p.17)
Below is an example of the kind of visualizations NYISOToolkit can create to communicate NY's progress toward achieving the CLCPA mandates. It shows a time series of the percent of daily electrical demand served by carbon-free energy sources (nuclear and renewables), overlayed by the aggregate annual percentages. The dotted contour shows what the total would be if all the imported energy into the state came from carbon-free sources (which it doesn't currently, but might in the future). In 2020, ~50% of the total annual energy demand was met by carbon-free energy sources (nuclear and renewables, and about half of that (or ~25% overall) was met by renewables alone.
