Consolidated Edison Inc. plans to add five distribution and transmission substations by 2028 to its network on Long Island to meet growing demand, executives said Oct. 3.
Outlined as part of a broader investor presentation, the projects include the $810 million Brooklyn Clean Energy Hub transmission site that was approved in April by the New York State Public Service Commission and on which the company broke ground last week eyeing a 2027 completion date. Con Edison’s plans also call for transmission stations in the Vinegar Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn (expected to be completed in 2025) and in Eastern Queens.
That latter project will be accompanied by a distribution substation as Con Edison works to upgrade its services in conjunction with the modernization of the nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport. Matt Ketschke, president of Consolidated Edison of New York, said the work in Eastern Queens will split into two the company’s existing network and should be finished in 2028.
The outlined transmission and distribution substation works build on investments Con Edison is making in its transmission lines in the area. In May, the company wrapped work on a six-mile transmission line in Queens. Together with work on lines in Brooklyn and on Staten Island, the company will add 900 MW of transmission capacity by 2025.
All of these projects are part of Con Edison’s three-year, $14.6 billion spending plan that looks to set the company on a path to have all of its electricity be green by 2040. Its CECONY and Orange & Rockland utilities plan to spend a combined $72 billion in the coming decade to that end and Con Edison Chairman and CEO Tim Cawley said Oct. 3 that work and other investments in transitioning to clean energy are bearing fruit.
“We are seeing real, measurable results every day,” Cawley said, calling out the fact that, with help from energy efficiency programs run by his team, the company’s customers recently passed the 100 million MWh mark in energy savings.
Another project toward this end could come from the company’s geothermal business. New York’s PSC has called for pilot project proposals using geothermal energy and Kathy Boden, Con Edison’s senior vice president of gas operations, said the company has submitted plans for a number of pilots to connect multiple buildings and share geothermal energy as well as waste heat. The total cost of those pilots, Boden added, is about $308 million.
Shares of Con Edison (Ticker: ED) were changing hands around $83.10 following the presentation, an increase of nearly 2% from their prior-day close. Over the past six months, however, they have fallen more than 10%, trimming the company’s market capitalization to about $29 billion.
