How Power is Delivered to You Safely and Reliably and What is Changing
To serve our customers, National Grid delivers nearly 33.3 gigawatt hours of electricity at peak through an energy network consisting of more than 5,600 miles of transmission lines that carry electricity long distances at high voltage levels to more than 275 transmission substations that step power down to a lower voltage.
This electricity is then carried across 47,000 miles of distribution lines, supported by hundreds of thousands of poles and more than 500 strategically located distribution substations. Power is then stepped down again at thousands of transformers to deliver power safely and reliably to millions of homes and businesses.
This extensive electric network will need to evolve and expand in capacity over the next 20 years due to the electrification of transportation and heating, increasing cooling needs and the connection of more clean energy resources. This includes building new substations and expanding others, and constructing new poles and towers, and increasing the amount of electricity our wires can carry. It’s what we’re calling the Upstate Upgrade.
Without the proposed investments, the expected growth in electricity demand and addition of new devices and technologies will overload existing equipment, impacting the safety and reliability of the network, and detrimentally affecting local economies.
The Upstate Upgrade: A Three-Pronged Approach
Meeting our climate and clean energy goals at pace is driven by two key factors: 1) the ability to connect clean and renewable energy to the grid, and 2) the rate at which customers adopt clean, efficient and electrified technologies. To ensure the grid is ready and able to do both, while leveraging and optimizing the use of these resources to benefit all customers, investments are needed in three key areas:
- Network Infrastructure, to make the grid is stronger and more resilient and ready to accommodate increased power flows and new connections.
- Technology and Platforms, to make the grid is smarter and more flexible, dynamic, secure and efficient and provide greater visibility into and control of system operations.
- Customer Programs, to deliver cleaner energy solutions and put customers in control of their energy choices and use.
National Grid is expected to invest more than $4 billion in the Upstate Upgrade to achieve these goals and enable a more electrified, cleaner and equitable energy future.
The Upstate Upgrade is National Grid’s plan to build a smarter, stronger, cleaner energy system that improves reliability and resilience, delivers more renewable energy, connects you to innovative energy solutions that meet your needs, and supports the goals of New York’s Climate Act.
