Rise Light & Power Proposing To Bring Offshore Wind Power To NYC Via Underwater Transmission Cables To LIC's Ravenswood Power Plant Right Across The East River From Roosevelt Island - Learn More About The Queensboro Renewable Express Project

The Rise Light & Power Ravenswood Power Plant is located in Long Island City right across the East River from Roosevelt Island.

A clean energy future demands bold action. That’s why we’re proud of our #RenewableRavenswood vision to transform New York City's largest fossil fuel plant into a new clean energy hub. pic.twitter.com/EnYanZqDFi

— Rise Light & Power (@RiseLightPower) October 27, 2022

At last Saturday's Roosevelt Island Farmers Market, Rise Light & Power's Director of External Affairs Lydia Downing spoke to residents 

about the Queensboro Renewable Express project to bring offshore wind power to NYC utilizing underwater transmission cables and invited residents to a July 23 meeting hosted by the NY State Public Service Commission to learn more about the project.

According to Rise Light & Power:

Local residents, community leaders, clean energy advocates and others will join team members from Rise Light & Power and officials from New York State’s Public Service Commission to learn more about and provide public comment on the Queensboro Renewable Express, a proposed project that would deliver offshore wind energy to New York City via underwater transmission cables and related onshore facilities.

WHEN: Tuesday, July 23, 1PM & 5:30PM (Statement Hearings begin at 2PM & 6:30PM)

WHERE: Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement, 10-25 41st St, Long Island City, Queens

WHO: New York State Public Service Commission, Rise Light & Power, members of the public

WHAT: Public information sessions and public statement hearings for the proposed Queensboro Renewable Express as required by Article VII of New York State’s Public Service Law “Siting of Major Utility Transmission Facilities”

WHY: Building Queensboro Renewable Express will get New York State closer to its target of 100% zero-emission electricity by 2040 set forth in the State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The project is designed to facilitate the replacement of existing 1960s-era fossil fuel generators at Ravenswood Generating Station, which powers one in five homes in NYC on the hottest days of the year. Queensboro Renewable Express is the next step in realizing the goals of Renewable Ravenswood, a plan that would turn NYC’s largest fossil fuel power station into a clean energy hub – reducing emissions, creating jobs, and keeping the lights on for New Yorkers.

Here's more info on the Rise Light & Power Queensboro Renewable Express project.

Can’t make the in-person event? For those who cannot attend or prefer not to speak at the public hearings, there are other ways to provide comments and share your voice on renewable energy for Queens. For more info visit: https://t.co/V1ZhggnhqI

— Rise Light & Power (@RiseLightPower) July 22, 2024

Statement from Rise CEO Clint Plummer on @GovKathyHochul’s announcement regarding @NYSERDA’s next offshore wind solicitation. pic.twitter.com/dFjbtwNFoD

— Rise Light & Power (@RiseLightPower) July 17, 2024

Click here for more info on the Queensboro Renewable Express project.

Interesting Links

You Tube video of Colonizing the Moon

Space entrepreneurs and nations ask "Who owns the Moon?" (Cnet News)

New Folks Moving to Roosevelt Island (NY Observer)

Eastwood windows being replaced without safety scaffolding or sheds underneath. (Roosevelt Island 360)

Urban Farming - Roosevelt Island Community Garden at Octagon Park (Veggie City)

Life on a Houseboat (NY Times)

Subway and other Transportation Problems for Roosevelt Island (NY Observer)

Good and Bad of Hi-Rise Apartments With Wall to Wall Windows. (Wall Street Journal)

New fruit stand opens on Roosevelt Island near subway (Roosevelt Island 360)

Wind Power Comes to New York State and Turbines Get Smaller for placement on building roofs. (NY Times)

Workshop on preparing for Flu calamity ( NY Times)

Mayor Bloomberg Seeking Windmills for NYC Bridges and Buildings - Start With the Incredible Queensboro Bridge Wind Machine!

Image of windmill on top of Empire State Building from NY Post

Mayor Bloomberg's Plan NYC 2030 initiative for a more sustainable, green and energy efficient New York City tookanother step forward with the announcement that the City is seeking:

expressions of interest from firms with experience implementing renewable energy projects, as well as other interested parties. Specifically, the City seeks to gather information on potential renewable energy projects that advance PlaNYC goals and accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The information gathered from this RFEI will be used to identify promising renewable energy projects for New York City and to provide a better understanding of the opportunities for both established and emerging renewable energy technologies.

According to the NY Post:

Forget Chicago.New York would claim title as the genuine "Windy City" under a dramatic proposal by Mayor Bloomberg yesterday to develop wind turbines atop the Big Apple's bridges and skyscrapers.

Adds the NY Times:

Mr. Bloomberg said he would ask private companies and investors to study how windmills can be built across the city, with the aim of weaning it off the nation’s overtaxed power grid, which has produced several crippling blackouts in New York over the last decade.

Mr. Bloomberg did not specify which skyscrapers and bridges would be candidates for windmills, and city officials would need to work with property owners to identify the buildings that would best be able to hold the equipment.

But aides said that for offshore locations, the city was eyeing the generally windy coast off Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island for turbines that could generate 10 percent of the city’s electricity needs within 10 years.

Let's start bringing windmill power to New York City with the Incredible Queensboro Bridge Wind Machine introduced in this earlier post. Video from Current TV.

Also, let's not forgot the Verdant Power underwater turbine project in the East River just off of Roosevelt Island. Video from Current TV.


As mentioned in the Verdant video, fish may have to be careful around Roosevelt Island in the future to avoid being chopped up and sliced by the water turbines as will birds if the windmills are ever built.

UPDATE - 8/21: NY Times reports that architects and engineers express great doubts on feasibility of wind power for New York City but that solar power has great possibilities.

UPDATE - 8/23: NY Times reports on Verdant Power's third try at installing water turbines in the East River.

...Imagine a field of windmills, but underwater. Instead of making power only when the wind blows, they would run according to the tide charts, as predictable as the phases of the moon. The East River — not a real river, but a tidal strait connecting Long Island Sound to Upper New York Bay — is famous for currents so strong that sailboats must wait for the tide to turn in their favor.

Those currents ate up the first two generations of turbines, installed by Verdant Power, a small private company, in late 2006 and early 2007. The only way inventors can make anything work is to see how it doesn’t work. And in the saga of the East River turbines, there is already a sharp lesson on the risks of giving up too soon....

Build The Incredible Queensboro Bridge Wind Turbine Machine to Celebrate Bridge's 100th Birthday!

Image of Queensboro Wind Turbine from Andrea Polli

Yesterday morning, the New York City Bridge Centennial Commission announced a series of events to commemorate the 100th birthday of 6 New York City Bridges. As Gothamist reports:

The six centennial spans are the Madison Avenue, Manhattan, Borden Avenue, Pelham Bay, University Heights and Queensboro bridges.

It would be fitting to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Queensboro bridge by re-visiting the proposal of New York City artist Andrea Polli to install several wind power turbines at the top of the bridge. Polli, a media professor at Hunter College is also:

a member of the steering committee for New York 2050, a wide-reaching project envisioning the future of the New York City region, she is currently working with city planners, environmental scientists, historians and other experts to look at the impact of climate on the future of human life both locally and globally.

Depending on the ultimate size and design of the Queensboro Bridge Wind Turbine Machine, it could provide a renewable source of energy powering the necklace lights on the bridge and power our own Roosevelt Island walkways directly below while restoring the look of the original bridge spires. (Hat tip to Roosevelt Island 360)

Video is from Current.com

Here's some more information on wind power turbines as a potential renewable energy resource:

• Technology smooths the way for home wind power turbines (NY Times)
• Harvesting winds at the Fresh Kills Landfill (NY Times)
• Corporate sponsorships for wind farms (NY Times)
• Wind Turbines at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (The Brooklyn Paper)