New York developers face a dual regulatory track: NYISO interconnection under FERC Order 2023 plus ORES Article 17 state siting for projects ≥25 MW. Here's everything you need to navigate both tracks and maintain site control compliance through IA execution.
Under FERC Order 2023, NYISO requires increasing site control coverage at each Class Year milestone. Options count at full weight (1.0) through Class Year Study, reduced weight at Facilities Study, and are excluded at IA execution.
| Queue Stage | Coverage Threshold | Options Allowed | Option Weight | Encumbrance Policy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-application | 0% | Yes | 1.0 | Allow |
| Class Year Study | 90% | Yes | 1.0 | Flag |
| Facilities Study | 90% | Yes | 0.75 | Disqualify |
| IA Execution | 100% | No | 0.0 | Disqualify |
| Commercial Operation | 100% | No | 0.0 | Disqualify |
Eligible instruments at IA execution: fee simple, executed lease, easement, ROW agreement. Source: NYISO OATT Attachment S, FERC Order 2023 compliance filing.
For the full cross-RTO comparison, see FERC Order 2023 Thresholds by RTO and Stage.
Class Year Application Window
Annual batching window. Projects accepted into cohort for joint study
Class Year Study — 90% Coverage Required
Deliverability and system reliability studies. Options count at full weight (1.0). Encumbrances flagged
Facilities Study — 90% Coverage Required
Network upgrade cost allocation. Options downweighted to 0.75. Encumbrances disqualify
IA Execution — 100% Coverage Required
100% site control with executed instruments only — no options
Commercial Operation
100% coverage maintained through operation. ORES permit conditions must also be satisfied
Per-stage thresholds, eligible instruments, option weights, and encumbrance policies for all 7 RTOs under FERC Order 2023.
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How option expirations drop coverage below NYISO thresholds and the conversion timeline your land team needs.
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12 questions covering FERC Order 2023, the 5-filter audit, SNDA requirements, and interconnection queue deadlines.
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Converting agricultural land triggers a mandatory 30-day notification to the county agricultural board and NYSDAM under Agriculture & Markets Law §305-a. Missing this step can delay both ORES and NYISO timelines. Land teams must identify ag district parcels early and initiate the notification process well before queue application.
Utility-scale generation is essentially prohibited on most Adirondack Park Agency land. Projects that unknowingly include APA-jurisdictional parcels face complete site control disqualification on those areas. Parcel-level APA boundary verification is critical before signing any lease or option agreement in northern New York.
Organizations like the Open Space Institute and Scenic Hudson hold conservation easements across large swaths of upstate New York. These restrictions can silently encumber leased parcels and disqualify coverage from Facilities Study onward. Title searches must specifically check for land trust conservation restrictions.
The ORES Preliminary Scoping Statement (PSS) requires site control documentation and may need to be filed before the NYISO queue application. Misaligning these two timelines can force developers into a costly sequencing problem: ORES needs site control proof that NYISO hasn't yet required. Coordinate both tracks from day one.
Zonevex parses your lease PDFs, matches parcels to the project boundary, applies NYISO's stage-specific thresholds, and tells you exactly where your coverage stands — across both the NYISO queue and ORES siting tracks.
90%
Class Year threshold
90%
Facilities threshold
100%
IA execution
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