Con Edison announces plan to storm-proof distribution systems

Con Edison Storm Protection Investment will fund smart grid upgrades, undergrounding, flood barriers, stronger poles, and smart switches in New York City and Westchester County to cut outages and speed restoration after major storms.

Con Edison recently announced that they have made major investments to protect its underground and overhead energy delivery systems from major storms, measures that will help limit power outages and speed service restoration to customers.

The utility plans to invest $1 billion on storm protection measures over the next four years in New York City and in Westchester County, similar to Florida grid plan efforts seen elsewhere. The utility said the investments include more than $475 million on its electric distribution system. The design and equipment improvements will help limit damage from major storms, and reduce the number and duration of customer outages.

Superstorm Sandy caused more than one million power outages, affecting approximately one-third of the utility’s customers late last year, according to a Sandy after-action report from industry sources.

"Sandy caused incredible damage to our energy delivery systems, disrupting the lives of millions of New Yorkers," said Con Edison Chairman and CEO Kevin Burke. "While we recognize that these weather events represent a 'new normal,' our goal through our investments is to lessen the hardships that violent weather causes for our customers."

Con Edison said it would pursue burying power lines for approximately 30 miles of overhead lines in New York City and Westchester County in 2015 and 2016, at a cost of approximately $200 million. Undergrounding all 35,000 miles of the company’s overhead systems would cost approximately $60 billion.

Major elements of Con Edison’s storm improvement plans include, reflecting broader efforts to adapt to climate change across the sector today:

- Building concrete flood barriers around critical equipment and higher perimeter walls around substations

- Installing flood gates at tunnel openings

- Installing additional submersible electrical equipment in flood-prone areas of the electric distribution system

- Redesigning two underground electrical networks in lower Manhattan and one serving coastal communities in Brooklyn, as part of post-Sandy upgrades now underway. The new smart grid designs will allow the company to preemptively deenergize customers in flood-prone areas, restore power faster when floodwaters recede, while keeping customers in the surrounding areas with power

- Installing hundreds of remote “smart” switches to isolate damaged equipment to help avoid blackouts this summer during peak demand and installing stronger, tree-branch resistant aerial cable

- Installing utility poles in storm-prone areas that are 15 percent stronger and able to withstand wind gusts of up to 110 mph

- Deploying thousands of overhead isolation devices, mirroring Met-Ed infrastructure expansion initiatives, to reduce customer outages and facilitate faster restoration

- Installing additional high-powered flood pumps in advance of storms

- Deploying water-resistant sealant in conduits containing electrical circuits

- Installing special float-check valves to protect gas services from floods

- Replacing cast iron and steel gas pipes in flood prone areas

- Strengthening communications for gas control and monitoring systems

OTHER FACTS

In addition to the storm improvements, Con Edison is investing $1.2 billion in 2013 overall to upgrade its electric delivery system and enhance reliability for hot summer months.

System-wide improvements underway include installation of 31 network transformers, six new feeders, 207 overhead transformers, and reinforcement of 46 feeders, 100 underground sections and 250 overhead spans. Upgrades to two unit substations also are in progress.

Related News

• Electricity Forum News

• Overhead T&D News