New York Power Authority To Invest $70 Million To Modernize Underground Power Line

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 29, 2022

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is moving forward with a $70 million upgrade and modernization of the Long Island Sound Cable, an underground transmission line that transverses the Long Island Sound from Westchester County to Nassau County, carrying up to 600 megawatts of electricity to Long Island.

The NYPA Board of Trustees on Jan. 25 approved a nearly $38 million contract with Elecnor Hawkeye, an engineering and construction firm, to undertake the project’s design, manufacturing, delivery, assembly, and commissioning.

The transmission project will enable accelerated progress against New York State’s goal for 70 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030. It also advances the State’s path to realize a zero-emission grid by 2040 as outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, NYPA noted.

The reconductoring project, which is slated to begin this fall and complete in 2023, will include the replacement and commissioning of the Nassau County section of the cable, in addition to the installation of additional manholes, fiber optic replacements, and instrumentation improvements to bring operational flexibility to the line and alleviate the risk of faults.

The action by the NYPA trustees builds on the October 2021 board approval to purchase the high-pressure fluid-filled cable needed for the reconductoring project from the Okonite Company for $28 million.

The scope of the project will be submitted to the Department of Public Service within the next few months.

The 26-mile, 345-kilovolt transmission line was placed into service in May 1991 and is part of a statewide network of approximately 1,400 circuit-miles of high-voltage transmission lines and associated substations owned by NYPA.

As part of NYPA’s 10-year strategic plan, VISION2030, NYPA is committed to growing transmission throughout New York State.

The modernization of the Long Island Sound Cable is one of several transmission improvement and development projects NYPA is working on independently, or with other industry partners, across the state, including:

• Smart Path, a $484 million project to improve 78 circuit-miles of transmission from Massena in St. Lawrence County to the Town of Croghan in Lewis County;
• Smart Path Connect, a $605 million, multi-faceted project that includes rebuilding more than 50 circuit-miles of transmission between Massena and the Town of Clinton, rebuilding approximately 55 circuit-miles of transmission southward from Croghan to Marcy, and rebuilding and expanding several substations along the impacted transmission corridor;
• Central East Energy Connect, a $276 million project that includes the construction of more than 90 circuit-miles of new 345 kV and 115 kV transmission lines and two substations between Marcy in the Mohawk Valley and New Scotland in the Capital Region; and
• Clean Path NY, an $11 billion clean infrastructure project that includes a new 174-mile underground transmission line that will enable the delivery of more than 7.5 million megawatt-hours of energy into New York City every year.