New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently announced the Energy Infrastructure Development Plan (EIDP), an updated framework for New York’s energy planning process focused on investments in energy infrastructure that will ensure system reliability and meet project demand in the coming decades. The September 22, 2026, announcement describes the EIDP as “an actionable blueprint designed to cut through red tape and match resources with economic growth.”
The EIDP aims to achieve project development and grid expansion objectives by leveraging neighborhood-scale alternatives, distributed solar, and energy storage, while focusing on the development of new utility-scale clean generation and transmission infrastructure. The EIDP’s focus on investments in statewide energy infrastructure is intended to address ratepayer concerns over affordability and plan for near and long-term large load growth from manufacturing, electrification, and Artificial Intelligence.
Governor Hochul is directing the New York State Planning Board to begin the EIDP process later this year as part of the next State Energy Plan. The EIDP’s focus on infrastructure investment follows the adoption of the 2025 New York State Energy Plan, a comprehensive policy document guiding energy planning through 2040 amid the State’s continued efforts to meet the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). Both emphasize cost and reliability as key priorities in New York State’s energy policy.
An interim EIDP will be due in 2027, and the first comprehensive EIDP will be finalized by December 2029. New York will then carry out new EIDPs in the future as part of the ongoing State Energy Planning process.
The EIDP announcement comes during Climate Week and is part of the Clean, Highly Affordable, Reliable Grid Expansion (CHARGE) Agenda, a five-pronged initiative designed to implement New York’s transition to renewable energy sources while protecting affordability for customers. The CHARGE Agenda aims to reduce energy costs for New Yorkers through funding a $1 billion rebate program, implementing guardrails on new hyperscale data centers, expanding large-scale renewables, upgrading the state’s transmission grid infrastructure, and creating new clean energy jobs.
Governor Hochul also announced a nearly $1 billion direct investment in building decarbonization and energy cost savings, renewable energy expansion, methane reduction, and agricultural resiliency as part of the CHARGE Agenda. This investment is the second installment in the Sustainable Future Program, which launched in 2025.
Our Energy Industry Team is tracking developments with the EIDP and will report out important developments, as well as opportunities for input on the next State Energy Plan.
If you have questions, please reach out to attorney John T. McManus at (518) 701-2734 and jmcmanus@harrisbeachmurtha.com; attorney Joshua Schneider at (518) 701-2744 and jschneider@harrisbeachmurtha.com; attorney Jack J. Robey at (518) 701-2776 and jrobey@harrisbeachmurtha.com; or the Harris Beach Murtha attorney with whom you most frequently work.
This alert is not a substitute for advice of counsel on specific legal issues.
Harris Beach Murtha’s lawyers and consultants practice from offices throughout Connecticut in Bantam, Hartford, New Haven and Stamford; New York State in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, Long Island and White Plains; as well as in Boston, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; and Newark, New Jersey.
