PSEG Long Island is prepared to supply electricity during extreme temperatures

(Uniondale, NY - June 3, 2019) - PSEG Long Island is prepared to meet peak electrical demand during extreme heat situations in the upcoming summer months. Continuous improvements to infrastructure, technology and communications over the past five years are providing best-in-class electric reliability to customers, all year long.

'PSEG Long Island is committed to providing our customers with excellent reliability, especially during the extreme heat that comes with the summer season,' said John O'Connell, vice president of transmission and distribution, PSEG Long Island. 'That is why we prepare and make sure we are ready to respond to any situation when needed. Employees work year-round to improve the system to ensure that our customers receive best-in-class electric service.'

Across Long Island and the Rockaways, PSEG Long Island's summer preparation efforts have focused on substation and transmission and distribution improvements, as well as circuit and equipment inspections using drones, helicopters and infrared technology.

System improvements included:

  • New transformers installed at the Hempstead, Malverne and Middle Island substations to provide additional capacity
  • Substations elevated and upgraded in Far Rockaway to better withstand extreme weather
  • New distribution feeders installed in North Lindenhurst, Terryville, Malverne and Riverhead areas to supply load growth
  • Distribution circuits upgraded in Arverne and Long Beach areas to improve circuit reliability
  • New transmission circuit installed from Canal to Southampton to meet the growing load demand in the area
  • Six transmission breakers added or replaced across the service territory for enhanced system reliability


Since the implementation of the storm hardening program funded by FEMA in 2014, storm hardening and reliability work has been completed on more than 200 circuits, covering more than 857 circuit miles, from the Rockaways to Shelter Island. In total, FEMA-funded reliability work will upgrade more than 300 circuits, which will cover 1,025 circuit miles across the service territory.

To further protect against storm damage to the electric system, arborists from PSEG Long Island's Tree Trimming program work throughout the year to identify and trim tree limbs in rights-of-way and along easements that could potentially cause outages during or after a storm. In 2018, PSEG Long Island removed more than 11,000 hazardous trees and/or large limbs along the distribution and transmission system and trimmed 3,000 miles of distribution and transmission line clearance in accordance with the industry best practice clearance standard. This preserves the health of the tree and directs future growth away from power lines. In addition, a new vine mitigation program identified, cut and treated more than 3,000 vine locations across Long Island and the Rockaways.

The utility's rigorous preparedness program for summer also includes conducting annual hurricane and tropical storm drills and employee training; developing emergency summer operating plans; and performing summer peak reliability analysis.

PSEG Long Island continues improving customer service through technology advancements. In 2018, a new PSEG Long Island website was launched with a more modern, updated, completely mobile website with simplified content that's more useful and easier to navigate, providing a better user experience. The PSEG Long Island outage map was updated to include additional information, such as crew location, cause and restoration of outages. A new interactive reliability layer was recently added to the map. This new layer details the reliability, FEMA, and circuit improvement projects PSEG Long Island is currently working on throughout the service territory. In addition, customers can now find PSEG Long Island on LinkedIn, and manage accounts and pay bills by utilizing the Alexa skill on an Amazon Echo or smart device.

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PSEG Long Island operates the Long Island Power Authority's transmission and distribution system under a long-term contract. PSEG Long Island is a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG) (NYSE:PEG), a publicly traded diversified energy company.

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PSEG - Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. published this content on 03 June 2019 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 03 June 2019 20:53:05 UTC