NYSEG Upgrades to Increase Reliability for Thousands of West Seneca Customers

Newly installed smart circuit devices will help provide quicker restoration times for customers 

WEST SENECA, NY — March 15, 2021 — New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) announced today it has completed upgrades to four circuits fed from its Langner Road substation in West Seneca as part of the company’s commitment to provide safe and reliable service to all customers. The completed project will create a more reliable and resilient energy grid for more than 7,800 customers in the town of West Seneca.

The project installed cutting edge technology, an Auto Grid Restoration (AGR) scheme, on the four upgraded circuits, which deliver power to customers’ homes and businesses, and at the Langner Road substation. The new equipment will help facilitate an effective and efficient response should outages occur. The upgrades include 25 newly installed smart circuit devices that can be remotely controlled to isolate problems on the system, such as a tree contact on an overhead line, and temporarily switch which circuit is powering customers, resulting in quicker restoration times. Additionally, the devices provide NYSEG with real-time information about where and why an outage might be occurring, allowing the company to dispatch field crews directly to the problem location to make repairs.

“We’re excited to bring this impactful, state-of-the-art technology to our customers in West Seneca,” said Eddie Mulholland, Director of Energy Control Centers at AVANGRID, NYSEG’s parent company. “On an Auto Grid Restoration scheme, the smart circuit devices will typically operate within minutes of a fault occurring. That means we will be able to restore some of our customers immediately. Also, the location information sent from the smart devices will help us to reduce the number of miles our trucks are required to drive to locate the problem, therefore decreasing the carbon footprint of our workforce.”

The installation of the Auto Grid Restoration scheme on Langner Road substation’s circuits began in early 2020 and is NYSEG’s second AGR project to go live, with the first installed in Silver Creek. The project is one of the several local investments NYSEG is making to update and improve its systems using the latest technologies and materials. The company is also currently expanding its Big Tree Road substation in Orchard Park and upgrading circuits in the town of Clarence. All projects focus on meeting the region’s growing energy demands and providing customers with reliable, high-quality power.
 
NYSEG is a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc.

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About NYSEG: New York State Electric & Gas Corporation (NYSEG) is a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. Established in 1852, NYSEG operates approximately 35,000 miles of electric distribution lines and 4,500 miles of electric transmission lines across more than 40% of upstate New York. It also operates more than 8,150 miles of natural gas distribution pipelines and 20 miles of gas transmission pipelines. It serves approximately 894,000 electricity customers and 266,000 natural gas customers. For more information, visit nyseg.com.

About AVANGRID: AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) is a leading, sustainable energy company with approximately $36 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states. With headquarters in Orange, Connecticut, AVANGRID has two primary lines of business: Avangrid Networks and Avangrid Renewables. Avangrid Networks owns eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Avangrid Renewables owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. AVANGRID employs approximately 6,600 people. AVANGRID supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2019 and 2020 by the Ethisphere Institute. For more information, visit avangrid.com.

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