Navigating Nuclear: Updates In New York

Building on our recent Navigating Nuclear client alert on New York and New Jersey,¹ we return to New York to highlight two recent developments. On 11 June 2026, the Public Service Commission (PSC) issued an Order Establishing a Nuclear Reliability Backbone Process.² Building on the Order, on 12 June 2026, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and New York State Department of Public Service (DPS) jointly issued an Advanced Nuclear Policy Options Paper.³

The Order provides an overview of New York’s plans to deploy advanced nuclear capacity, as part of New York’s “all-of-the-above approach” to meeting the state’s future energy needs, including the potential deployment of “one to two new gigawatt [GW]-sized nuclear plants” by 2040.⁴ The Order outlines two new processes, led by the DPS, to facilitate a pathway to add 4 GW of new “advanced nuclear”⁵ These two projects, when combined with New York’s existing nuclear capacity, would result in a total 8.4 GW