New York State has taken a giant step toward promoting new nuclear power generation and associated transmission facilities. On June 11, 2026, the State’s Public Service Commission (PSC) instituted a new proceeding through its Order Establishing a Nuclear Backbone Process (Order). As of this writing, the docket consists of just eleven documents, the most important of which is the New York State Advanced Nuclear Policy Options Paper (White Paper), developed by the staff of the PSC and the State’s Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Interestingly, the original name of that authority was the Atomic and Space Development Authority.
The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) has long prided itself on the purity and integrity of its tariffs, administering markets in which financial rights are acquired and sold rather than physical rights. To be sure, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has permitted deviations from the open access transmission model on a case-by-case basis when applicants sufficiently demonstrate that the deviations are consistent with or superior to the provisions of the model (embodied in pro forma Open Access Transmission and Service Tariffs) or are just inapplicable.