The Blueprint’s actions and recommendations will unify the State’s efforts to create an energy infrastructure that will serve the State’s residents and businesses in the decades to come. Construction of the new transmission capacity called for under the Blueprint would solve a decades-old problem: the limitations of the State’s electric grid to transmit available, cheaper upstate power to downstate when demand is high. The Blueprint achieves this public policy goal with a first-of-its-kind solicitation of new transmission projects. The Blueprint’s call for immediate development and initial implementation of detailed contingency plans to address potential power plant closures demonstrates the State’s assumption of a new leadership role in challenging the market to prepare for and meet future uncertainties impacting the bulk electric system. Construction of the new renewable generation called for under the Blueprint, and the recommended extension of funding for the State’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (rPs) to well beyond its current 2015 end date, signals the State’s unequivocal commitment to a future sustainable power generation sector at a time when the expiration of federal tax credits as well as market conditions are working against such a vision. The Blueprint’s call for repowering major power generation facilities on Long Island and elsewhere demonstrates the State’s ongoing commitment to a cleaner environment. Accelerating utility capital and operation and maintenance spending on the State’s electric and natural gas infrastructure will result in enhanced reliability and safety for utility customers while generating substantial economic development benefits for the State’s overall economy. In addition, the Blueprint puts forward a coordinated public and private sector approach for Smart Grid to transition the aging existing electric system into the 21st Century grid.