NYSERDA Contracts 950 MW of Storage From 46 Bids in New York’s First Bulk Solicitation
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Marin Holt
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- Storage contracted: 950 MW across eight projects
- Bid pool: 46 projects, about 6 GW
- Durations: Four to eight hours
- Renewables contracted: 719 MW across 13 projects
- Private investment: $3.7 billion
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority contracted 950 MW of grid-scale battery storage on September 23, 2026, the result of the state’s first Bulk Energy Storage solicitation. NYSERDA picked eight projects out of 46 bids that together offered about 6 GW. The winners run from Chautauqua and Allegany counties in western New York to the Bronx and Long Island, and their durations range from four hours to eight.
NYSERDA announced the storage awards alongside 13 large-scale renewable projects totaling more than 719 MW, from its 2025 Tier 1 Renewable Energy Standard solicitation. The agency puts the two sets together at 1.7 GW of new large-scale energy resources, more than 1,000 jobs and over $3.7 billion in private investment. NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen M. Harris said the contracts more than double the utility-scale storage that exists statewide today.
Where the eight projects land
Western New York takes Lighthouse Energy Storage in Chautauqua County and Zenobe Burns in Allegany County. Eastwater Energy Storage sits in the Finger Lakes. KCE NY 5 goes to the Hudson Valley. New York City gets Blue Spruce Storage and Palladium, both in Bronx County. Long Island gets Holtsville and KCE NY 37.
All eight use lithium-ion. All are contractually bound to the state storage safety codes that took effect January 1, 2026, a direct answer to the fire-driven local opposition that has slowed siting downstate. Energy-Storage.News notes that New York defines Bulk as front-of-the-meter storage above 5 MW, which keeps this program separate from the state’s residential and retail support tracks.
Why It Matters
Two Bronx sites and two Long Island sites are the headline for anyone tracking New York City’s capacity problem. Downstate load pockets are where storage earns its keep and where siting is hardest, so a solicitation that lands four of eight projects there is doing more than buying megawatts. It is testing whether the 2026 safety code is enough to move projects through local approval.
The contract structure sets the real schedule. NYSERDA does not start paying until a project reaches commercial operation, after it has every permit and local approval in hand. The state’s 2024 Public Service Commission storage order requires these projects in service by the end of 2030. A contract award is the start of that clock, not the end of it.
The next two rounds
NYSERDA plans to issue the second annual Bulk Energy Storage request for proposals by the end of this year. The program targets 3 GW across three solicitations through 2027. Round one drew 46 bids for a solicitation seeking a gigawatt, so developer appetite is not the constraint. Whether 950 MW at a time clears local permitting on a 2030 deadline is the open question.
Critical Perspective
Round one sought a gigawatt and contracted 950 MW. That gap is small, but it came out of 46 bids offering about 6 GW, so NYSERDA had roughly six times the volume it needed and still stopped just short of its own target. Something screened out the rest, and the announcement does not say whether it was price, interconnection position or deliverability into the load pockets the state actually needs served. For a first solicitation, that is the most useful number NYSERDA has not published.
The contract terms also put the siting risk entirely on developers. NYSERDA pays nothing until commercial operation, after every permit and local approval is in hand, and the 2024 Public Service Commission order wants these assets in service by the end of 2030. Two Bronx projects and two on Long Island are exactly the ones most likely to meet organized local opposition. If they stall, the state loses no money and the press release still stands. Watch how many of the eight reach a signed interconnection agreement before the second round is awarded.
Sources
- NYSERDA, “Awards Announced for New Bulk Energy Storage and Large-Scale Renewable Projects,” September 23, 2026
- Energy-Storage.News, “NYSERDA picks eight projects for New York utility-scale energy storage programme,” September 24, 2026
- Solar Power World, “NYSERDA approves 1.7 GW of new state renewable energy projects,” September 23, 2026
