On August 17, 2026, the New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission (ORES) approved National Grid’s June 18, 2026, request to amend a transmission certificate originally issued by the Public Service Commission (PSC) in 1975 for the 115 kilovolt (kV) Alcoa–North Ogdensburg transmission line in ORES Case 26-T-0436. Significantly, ORES relied on Public Service Law (PSL) § 3-c(2)(d), which provides that certificates previously issued by the PSC under Article VII are, “for all legal purposes,” considered permits issued by ORES. ORES therefore reviewed National Grid’s proposed replacement of wood H-frame structures with steel structures under the Article VIII amendment regulations in 16 NYCRR Part 1100, rather than as an Article VII amendment before the PSC.
ORES determined that the proposed replacement of existing wood H-frame structures with steel structures qualified as a minor amendment under 16 NYCRR § 1100-11.2. Among other things:
- The replacement structures and work areas would remain within the existing 100-foot right-of-way.
- National Grid had secured the necessary property rights and landowner permissions.
- The work was not expected to materially increase environmental, public-health, or safety impacts or require a substantial change to an existing permit condition.
ORES accordingly approved the amendment and revised the former certificate condition to allow either wood or steel structures. ORES will separately process the related amendment to the project’s previously approved Environmental Management and Construction Plan (known as the EM&CP).
The determination provides useful guidance for owners of transmission facilities operating under legacy PSL Article VII certificates. Certificate holders considering an amendment should determine at the outset whether the request should be made to ORES under Article VIII rather than the PSC under Article VII. The National Grid determination confirms that a legacy Article VII certificate may now be treated as an Article VIII permit for amendment purposes, and applicants seeking minor-amendment treatment should develop the record around continued use of existing rights-of-way and secured property rights, as well as the absence of materially increased environmental or other impacts.
By comparison, the Long Island Power Authority’s (LIPA) recent Newbridge Bypass amendment remained before the PSC under Article VII. LIPA filed its amendment petition on April 16, 2025, while the transition to the new Article VIII transmission-siting framework was still underway. It was filed well before the Article VIII transmission regulations became effective, during a period in which ORES itself confirms that transmission certificate applications continued to be processed under Article VII. The underlying LIPA Article VII Certificate, issued in 2005 in Case 04-T-1687, authorized two underground transmission lines that were capable of operating at 345 kV but initially operated at 138 kV. In Case 25-T-0242, LIPA sought authority to extend and combine those existing lines and operate the resulting line at 345 kV as part of the Long Island Offshore Wind Export Public Policy Transmission Need solution. The PSC reviewed the amendment according to PSL § 122(4) and applied the standard in PSL § 123(2), concluding that no hearing was required because the changes would not materially increase environmental impacts or substantially change the location of the facility. The PSC also expressly provided that the newly designated 345 kV line would remain subject to its Article VII jurisdiction.
The National Grid determination also comes as ORES prepares to receive the first wave of new major electric transmission applications under Article VIII. In its May 2026 Annual Report for the Calendar Year 2025, ORES reported that no applications for major electric transmission facilities were filed under Article VIII during 2025; instead, a significant number of major transmission projects continued to be processed under Article VII while ORES completed the new regulatory framework. The PSC approved the new Article VIII regulations in February 2026, and Parts 1100, 1101, and 1102 became effective on March 9, 2026. ORES stated that, following promulgation of those regulations and completion of the transition period, it “anticipates several Article VIII transmission applications in the near future.” Accordingly, developers of new major electric transmission facilities should now be planning for ORES’s Article VIII process and the requirements of 16 NYCRR Part 1102, while developers with pending Article VII proceedings should separately evaluate whether to remain under Article VII or elect to transfer into the Article VIII process.
If you have any questions regarding the content of this alert, please contact Ekin Senlet, Regulatory Practice Area co-chair, at esenlet@barclaydamon.com, or another member of the firm’s Regulatory Practice Area.