PSEG Long Island Is Prepared for Summer 2017

NEW YORK – PSEG Long Island continues to upgrade its infrastructure, technology and communications to maintain best-in-class electric reliability. These continued improvements have prepared the energy grid to meet peak demand during extreme heat situations in the upcoming summer months.

“Our customers deserve and expect to have reliable service, regardless of the weather conditions,” said John O’Connell, Vice President of Transmission and Distribution at PSEG Long Island. “We continuously inspect our system and work throughout the year to proactively make upgrades and improvements so when extreme weather conditions affect the service territory, we can continue to deliver safe and reliable service to our customers.”

Our efforts focus on substation improvements, transmission and distribution improvements, as well as circuit and equipment inspections, including helicopter inspections across Long Island and the Rockaways.

System Improvements include:

• Installed transformers at Buell, Cedarhurst, Herricks, Orchard, Park Place, Smithtown, Sterling and Syosset substations.
• Barrett and Far Rockaway substations were elevated and upgraded to better withstand extreme weather.
• New distribution feeders installed at Greenlawn, Mitchell Gardens, Pulaski and Tech Park substations.
• Installed or upgraded distribution circuits at Bayport, Greenlawn, Mitchell Gardens, Orchard, Pulaski, Riverhead, Syosset, Tech Park, and Wildwood substations.
• Replaced damaged cable at Wantagh Parkway/Goose Creek Bridge.
• Upgraded Levittown – Plainedge circuit to higher rated conductor.
• Installed a capacitor bank at Jamesport Substation to support voltage constraints in the area.
• Upgraded connections at Northport and Elwood Substation.
• Routed an existing, nearby cable into the Southampton substation to provide additional supply.
• Installed a new breaker at Ridge Substation.
• Added or replaced 33 transmission breakers for system reliability.

The implementation of the storm hardening program funded by FEMA to strengthen Long Island’s distribution system also continues. Improvements include upgrading poles to withstand winds up to 135 mph, installing stronger and more resistant wires, tree trimming to clear conductors and reduce the risk of damage to equipment and installing automated switching equipment to help reduce the number of customers affected by an outage.

Since funding was secured by LIPA in 2014, storm hardening and reliability work has been completed on more than 80 circuits, covering more than 270 circuit miles, from the Rockaways to Shelter Island. FEMA reliability work is planned for more than 300 circuits, which will cover 1,025 circuit miles across the service territory.

To further minimize storm damage to the electric system, arborists from PSEG Long Island’s Tree Trimming program work throughout the year to identify and trim tree limbs in rights of way and along easements that could potentially cause outages during or after a storm. In 2016, the utility trimmed a record 3,250 transmission and distribution miles. In 2014-16, PSEG Long Island reduced the number of tree-related outages by approximately 50 percent on circuits that were trimmed.

PSEG Long Island has also continued to improve the customer service experience through technology advancements. In 2016, PSEG Long Island redesigned its customer bill and My Account dashboard for residential and commercial customers. The utility also updated the Balanced Billing program to provide customers a consistent and predictable payment for 12 consecutive months. The utility is also continuing to add new ways for customers to pay their bill with the launch of its new pay-by-text option for customers already enrolled in My Alerts and registered in My Account. PSEG Long Island’s new outage map includes more information, such as the type of crew assigned to a job, the cause of the outage and icons indicating where shelters, command centers and additional resources are located.

Photo by Pabio Piscicelli via Flickr with no changes made. (CC BY 2.0)
Press Release by PSEG Long Island.
Press Release Made Available by PSEG.