Not as bad as NYC building a 333 mile, $3B transmission line to get hydro power supplied from Canada.
Rather than spending $3B to build out wind or other renewable power locally.
Rather than spending $3B to build out wind or other renewable power locally.
First, hydro power is very stable, and Quebec has a surplus, so they could probably get a good price deal for an ongoing relationship. The construction cost is nothing, compared to the ongoing cost. What does that Canadian power cost, vs the cost of wind? They could be looking at tremendous savings over the next few decades.
Second, this appears to be a New York City decision, not a New York state decision. Does NYC have enough viable land to build a gigawatt (or more like 3-4gw, considering load variation) of wind? Probably not.