Prepared for Advanced Energy United, this report highlights how siloed gas and electric planning among New York utilities, with divergent forecasts, could lead to duplicative infrastructure investments, stranded assets, and higher energy costs for New York ratepayers—many of whom are already struggling amid today’s affordability challenge.
The report includes a case study of National Grid, a dual-fuel utility serving upstate New York, finding:
- National Grid employs diverging assumptions about heat pump deployment across the gas and electric sides of the utility.
- By 2030, National Grid’s electric load forecast assumes over 30,000 more heat pump installations than the gas load forecast.
- If National Grid gas adopted the heat pump assumptions already used in its electric load forecast, the utility would project a 3% lower gas customer count by 2029 (15,000 fewer customers), compared to its current gas forecast.
- Despite this, National Grid forecasts spending approximately $550 million from 2025 to 2029 to support customer growth assumptions.
Why Integrated Energy Planning?
The report also outlines the elements and benefits of integrated energy planning, a coordinated utility planning framework that aligns gas, electric, and distributed energy systems to meet state policy goals, such as affordability, reliability, and decarbonization in the most cost-effective and safest manner.
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