By Stephen Nakrosis

New York utility Con Edison said Wednesday it would work with the State University of New York at Albany to gather data on the local climate and help guide how it invests to help protect its energy-delivery systems from severe weather events.

The utility said its "New York City Micronet" project will see 17 weather-monitoring stations placed on its properties, with data from the sites sent to the NYS Mesonet infrastructure at the university. Con Edison also said the data will be available to the public.

Con Edison will place six monitoring stations on the roofs of its buildings, with 11 located at ground level.

Con Edison will invest $3 million in the project, which includes a $1.6 million contract with the university.

"Climate change makes smart infrastructure planning and design essential," said Charles Viemeister, Con Edison's project manager. "We'll use data from the Micronet to gain additional insight into the local short-term and longer-term impacts of climate change."

The stations are expected to be up by the end of the year, the company said.

Write to Stephen Nakrosis at stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com