The growing community at Birchwood Estate in Monticello brings with it increased demand for electricity to support residents living and working there. When demand for electricity increase, NYSEG makes smart investments in our infrastructure to ensure that we can meet demand and continue to provide safe and reliable service to customers.

“This investment in our infrastructure will support the growth the community is experiencing,” said NYSEG Project Manager Gerald Deyo. “This project is a demonstration of our commitment to continue providing safe and reliable service to the communities we serve.”

What does a substation do anyway?

A substation is connected to both the electricity transmission system and the distribution system. The transmission system carries electricity at high-voltage over long distances and feeds several substations along its route. At a substation, the voltage is reduced and transferred onto a distribution circuit that directly serves homes, businesses, and other community facilities.

Why make upgrades at the Sacket Lake substation?

In Monticello, there is a growing demand for more energy and that’s why NYSEG has rebuilt an entire substation and has begun engineering work to rebuild new distributions lines with greater capacity to carry more electricity to homes and businesses on the circuit. Currently, the substation converts voltage from the attached 34.5kV transmission line to 4.8kV to supply the attached distribution circuit. When the distribution upgrades are completed later this year, the distribution line will carry 12.5kV to meet the increased demand.

Will customers notice a difference?

Customers can continue to expect safe, reliable service from NYSEG and may see our crews constructing the new distribution lines in the area. These efforts will include tree trimming and the installation of new poles and wires. The newly constructed circuit will benefit from newer, stronger poles and utilize new equipment such as transformers and switches meant to reduce the number of customers impacted if an outage occurs.

What’s the status of this project?

The Sackett Lake substation upgrades are complete and engineering work has begun to build the new distribution lines that will replace the existing circuit. The voltage on the new distribution circuit will increase in order to safely serve the growing community at Birchwood Estate when the project is complete, slated for summer 2022.

Want to learn more about NYSEG and what our team does? Visit us online at NYSEG.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We regularly provide information such as energy saving tips and safety reminders along with project updates from around the state.