National Grid’s new line spanning Saratoga and Schenectady counties approved
When air conditioners are buzzing during blistering hot summer days, the last thing anyone wants is a power outage, and state officials are hoping a new transmission line into Rotterdam will prevent that from happening.
The New York State Public Service Commission granted National Grid a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need on Thursday, Feb. 17, for the company’s proposed new 115-kilovolt electric transmission line from Spier Falls in Saratoga County to Rotterdam in Schenectady County. The new line will stretch 33 miles along National Grid’s existing rights-of-way, but 20- to 25-foot-wide land easements will need to be acquired for vegetation management, which has been a point of concern for some residents who have wondered how the deal would affect their land.
Our findings indicated that there is a need [for the new transmission line] having to do with outages and reliability for the system, said Anne Dalton, spokeswoman for the New York State Public Service Commission. `We modified our certificate that National Grid will be required to do some post-construction landscaping along the rights-of-way and the company will have to comply with all local noise ordinances.`
The new line will be built in two segments ` from the Spier Falls Substation to the Ballston Tap is 22 miles, and the remaining 11 miles goes from the Rotterdam Substation to the Ballston Tap. Also, there is the reconstruction of a 4-mile spur line form the Ballston Tap to the Ballston Spa substation. The new lines will not be as wide as the existing line structures and will rise 4 feet higher.
The project is estimated to cost $66 million, which is part of $1.5 billion that has been spent over the past five years on projects in upstate New York, said Patrick Stella, spokesman for National Grid.
Residents have expressed concerns that they would see a spike in their National Grid bills, but Stella said that wouldn’t be the case.
`You are not going to see a rise in your electricity bill all of a sudden because we are doing this project,` said Stella.
Money for infrastructure upgrades is allocated through the delivery fees charged to customers, said Stella, so the funding doesn’t need to be acquired through dramatically increased charges.
Dalton said the new lines need to be built in order to ensure power during high-demand periods, such as warm summers days.
`During peak periods, you want to have reliability on the system,` said Dalton.
The long-range needs of the region will also be addressed by the project. The state Public Service Commission said the upgrades will alleviate the danger of thermal overloads, which could potentially damage facilities and leave thousands of customers without service.
`It is an area we have been looking at for several years,` said Stella. `It is the largest growth area in upstate New York in our service territory, so there is a need for the reinforcement of the electrical system there. GlobalFoundries has begun construction of their facility as well, and that certainly heightened the need.`
National Grid stated in its application that performance of their transmission system in the Northeast region was marginally acceptable in the summer of 2009. By the summer of 2012 their transmission system was expected to be unacceptable. Part of the increased demand on the system is due to GlobalFoundries, which is expected to have a minimum peak load of 40 MVA by the summer of 2012, which accounts for more than half of the expected minimum load increase of 71 MVA that summer, according to National Grid.
At public hearings held on the project, customers had voiced concerns that GlobalFoundries should front the bill for the project due to the large demand required in the future. Stella contended National Grid was moving forward with plans for the new lines before GlobalFoundries committed to building its facility, and the upgrade is needed even without the strong pull on the system.
There are around 200 customers with property adjacent to the project, said Stella, but the exact number of how many will be affected is unclear. Any property owners affected by vegetation management or acquiring additional land for easements will be dealt with on an individual basis trough negotiations and some form of compensation. Vegetation management would include replanting of various taller plants species and possibly addressing trees that could pose a danger to the new lines.
`We really believe that this line is needed in this area and we are going to work with those customers in the right of way and those customers we need to obtain easements, and we are going to try to reach an agreement that is beneficial for both us and them,` said Stella.“
