NYSEG Completes Resiliency Upgrades in Orange and Tyrone

Investments to bring enhanced reliability to more than 1,500 customers

ELMIRA, N.Y. — October 27, 2020 — NYSEG announced today that it has recently completed resiliency upgrades in the towns of Orange and Tyrone on its North Urbana 535 circuit, which delivers power to customers’ homes and businesses. This year-long project is part of the company’s Resiliency Program which proactively hardens the company’s systems to continue providing safe and reliable service to all customers. The project will bring enhanced reliability to more than 1,500 customers.

The North Urbana 535 circuit project included upgrading nine miles of power lines and building a connection between two previously independent circuits. This provides NYSEG with an alternative power source to allow for quicker restoration times for customers when outages do occur. Additionally, the project upgraded equipment on the circuit, adding two reclosers and one SCADA switch. A recloser is a technology that can detect power interruptions and, in some case, automatically restore service. A SCADA switch gives NYSEG increased information in real-time about why outages are occurring and enables an efficient and effective response.

“We take the responsibility of providing our customers with safe and reliable service very seriously and our customers rely on us,” said Andy Gumkowski, Manager of Resiliency Field Projects at NYSEG. “These upgrades are an important improvement for us to ensure safe, uninterrupted service now and in the future. The project has been a large undertaking for our team and included partnering with New York State to cross Sugar Hill State Forest to build the connection between the two independent circuits. We’re grateful for their collaboration and understanding of the importance of these investments for our customers.”

While conducting the wire upgrades, NYSEG also completed enhanced tree trimming along the power lines. This included trimming from ground to sky and removing overhanging limbs to create a higher overhead clearance. This will help to protect the infrastructure during the winter months when snow and ice can weigh down vegetation, causing it to come into contact with power lines.

“Trees, branches and foliage are a leading cause of power interruptions,” said Gumkowski. “When damaged or broken during storms, this vegetation can take down power lines or poles and cause outages. Conducting the enhanced tree trimming while we completed the resiliency upgrades created efficiency and ensured the circuit is well taken care of.”

The North Urbana 535 circuit project is one of the several local resiliency investments NYSEG is making to reduce the number and duration of outages during extreme weather and to enable an efficient and effective response when outages do occur. The company will also begin resiliency upgrades next year on its South Addison circuit in Addison and Rathbone.

NYSEG is a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc.