Sandy improvements pay dividends for Con Edison

New York, NY – - New York, NY – Con EdisonÂ’s post-Sandy storm hardening improvements have spared customers 20,000 outages so far this year, including 5,000 of them in Westchester over the July 4 weekend.

“The post-Sandy storm hardening improvements are paying service reliability dividends for our customers,” said Robert Schimmenti, Con Edison’s vice president of Engineering and Planning. “Devices installed on our overhead system isolate damage on our lines so that when outages occur, fewer customers are affected.”

Con Edison has installed thousands of sectionalizing fuses on its overhead system, as well as reclosers that are also known as “smart switches” pictured. These initiatives are part of the company’s $1 billion investment to protect its systems from severe storms.

The fuses create a controlled isolation point on electrical lines. This becomes the first point of isolation when a fault occurs, which can be due to a tree or branch falling, a lightning strike, or other storm-related damage. These devices allow Con Edison to design where the breaks in circuits occur, limiting the number of affected customers.

These reclosers, or “smart switches,” also are more complex devices that can clear temporary faults, such as a fallen tree branch that momentarily touches a line. The recloser instantly restores service so Con Edison doesn’t need to send a crew to fix the damage.

The new equipment helped Westchester customers affected by storms over the July 4 weekend, as seven fuses limited outages in the cities of Yonkers and New Rochelle, the villages of Briarcliff Manor and Mount Kisco, and in the Town of Mount Pleasant.

Storm-hardening projects will continue into 2015 and 2016, further improving the reliability of the companyÂ’s systems.

Consolidated Edison, Inc. is one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $40 billion in assets.

Related News

hydro one logo

Ontario's electricity 'recovery rate' could lead to higher hydro bills

TORONTO - A new provincial COVID-19 measure, designed to give Ontario ratepayers "stability" on their hydro bills this summer, could result in slightly higher hydro costs over the next four months.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government announced over the weekend that consumers would be charged a single around-the-clock electricity rate between June and November, replacing the much-derided time-of-use model ratepayers have complained about for years.

Instead of being charged between 10 to 20 cents per kilowatt hour, depending on the time of day electricity is used, hydro users will be charged a blanket rate of 12.8 cents per kWh.

"The new rate will…

READ MORE
offshore wind turbines

U.S. Electricity and natural gas prices explained

READ MORE

mercury energy

Mercury in $3 billion takeover bid for Tilt Renewables

READ MORE

climate change denial

$1 billion per year is being spent to support climate change denial

READ MORE

SDG&E Wants More Money From Customers Who Don’t Buy Much Electricity. A Lot More.

READ MORE