The New York Power Authority has completed a $70 million upgrade and modernization of its Long Island Sound Cable (Y-49), 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 transmission project accelerates 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.
“With this comprehensive modernization project completing on schedule and ahead of the peak demand summer season, the Long Island Sound Cable will help ensure reliable transmission of power to the nearly three million New Yorkers that make Long Island their home,” said Michael Balboni, NYPA trustee and Long Island resident.
The reconductoring project included the replacement and commissioning of the Nassau County section of the cable, in addition to the installation of additional manholes, fiber optic cable replacements, and instrumentation improvements to bring operational flexibility to the line and help alleviate the risk of faults.
The 26-mile, 345-kilovolt transmission line was originally 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 the Power Authority.
“LIPA’s purpose is to provide our 1.2 million customers on Long Island and in the Rockaways with clean, reliable, and affordable electricity,” said, Thomas Falcone, CEO of the Long Island Power Authority. “The Long Island Sound Cable is a critical part of our region’s energy infrastructure—both for importing electricity to maintain reliability and to provide opportunities for cost savings. This multifaceted investment will also contribute to the delivery of offshore wind to the rest of the state.”
The modernization of the Long Island Sound Cable is part of a larger buildout of transmission projects across New York, including more than 1,000 miles of planned transmission investments that will create opportunities to maximize the use of renewable energy for parts of the state that currently rely on fossil fuel plants.
NYPA will soon mark the completion of its Moses-Adirondack Smart Path Reliability project in the North Country; is advancing construction that began late last year on the Smart Path Connect project in collaboration with National Grid; and is continuing progress on the Central East Energy Connect project in collaboration with LS Power. In addition, NYPA and New York Transco are collaborating on a proposed Propel NY Energy transmission solution currently under review by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) that, if approved, will reliably integrate clean offshore wind power into the statewide energy grid and bolster resiliency of the transmission system.
Two new major transmission and renewable energy projects, which were selected by Governor Hochul in 2021 to help transport clean energy to New York City, are in development and awaiting permitting: Clean Path New York, a project created through a collaboration between NYPA, Invenergy and energyRe, that is currently undergoing its Article VII review and the Champlain Hudson Power Express Transmission Project created by Transmission Developers Inc.
NYPA owns and operates approximately one third of New York’s high voltage power lines. The lines transmit power from NYPA’s three large hydroelectric generation facilities and independent wind power generation facilities, connecting nearly 7,000 megawatts of renewable energy to New York State’s power grid. This includes connecting more than 6,300 megawatts of hydroelectric power and about 700 megawatts, or more than a third, of New York State generated wind energy to the grid. NYPA, the largest state public power organization in the nation, operates 16 power generating facilities.
