N.Y. Laws » CHAPTER Public Service / ARTICLE Siting of Major Utility Transmission Facilities
New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Public Service Law § 121 (2026)

Certificate of environmental compatibility and public need

✓ text as retrieved May 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
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§ 121. Certificate of environmental compatibility and public need. 1.
No person shall, after July first, nineteen hundred seventy, commence
the preparation of the site for the construction of a major utility
transmission facility in the state without having first obtained a
certificate of environmental compatibility and public need (hereafter in
this article called a "certificate") issued with respect to such
facility by the commission. The replacement of existing with like
facilities, as determined by the commission, shall not constitute the
construction of a major utility transmission facility. Any facility with
respect to which a certificate is required shall thereafter be built,
maintained and operated in conformity with such certificate and any
terms, limitations or conditions contained therein.  A certificate may
only be issued pursuant to this article.
  2. A certificate may be transferred, subject to the approval of the
commission, to a person who agrees to comply with the terms, limitations
and conditions contained therein.
  3. A certificate issued hereunder may be amended as herein provided.
  4. This article shall not apply to any major utility transmission
facility:
  a. For which, on or before July first, nineteen hundred seventy an
application has been made for a license, permit, consent or approval
from any federal, state or local commission, agency, board or regulatory
body, in which application the location of the major utility
transmission facility has been designated by the applicant;
  b. The construction of which has been approved by a municipality or
public benefit corporation which has sold bonds or bond anticipation
notes on or before July first, nineteen hundred seventy, the proceeds or
part of the proceeds of which are to be used in payment therefor; or
  c. Over which any agency or department of the federal government has
exclusive jurisdiction, or has jurisdiction concurrent with that of the
state and has exercised such jurisdiction, to the exclusion of
regulation of the facility by the state.
  5. Any person intending to construct a major utility transmission
facility excluded from this article pursuant to subdivision four may
elect to waive such exclusion by delivering notice of such waiver to the
commission. This article shall thereafter apply to each major utility
transmission facility identified in such notice from the date of its
receipt by the commission.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1998–2023 · leading case: Powerline Coalition, Inc. v. New York State Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 244 A.D.2d 98 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep't 1998).
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Powerline Coalition, Inc. v. New York State Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 244 A.D.2d 98 (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep't 1998). “Completion of that stage culminates in the issuance of a EC&PN certificate (Public Service Law § 121 et seq.). Next, the utility must notify all property owners who may be affected by such project of the impending EM&CP application and of the related public hearings which will…”
Matter of Citizens for the Preserv. of Wainscott, Inc. v. New York State Pub. Serv. Commn., 216 A.D.3d 769 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dep't 2023). “In order to construct the SFEC, SFW was required to apply for and receive, inter alia, a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need (hereinafter CECPN) from the Public Service Commission of the State of New York (hereinafter the Commission) pursuant to Public…”
Boundless Energy NE, LLC v. Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 57 Misc. 3d 610 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2017). “The court therefore has not considered Boundless’s arguments that the PSC’s order finding transmission needs driven by public policy requirements was a de facto denial of its article VII application for a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need that is not…”
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