BERLIN, Connecticut – June 1, 2009 – The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P) is in the final stages of a $46 million program to upgrade and strengthen its infrastructure across the state as the 2009 summer season – the time of greatest electricity consumption – approaches. Every year, CL&P begins preparations for the summer during the previous fall to reduce the possibility of service interruptions for customers.
"These proactive steps are far more efficient and cost-effective for us than just making repairs,” said Dana Louth, vice president for Energy Delivery Services at CL&P. “These improvements will go a long way so that if outages occur, they are small both in number and duration, providing our customers with greater reliability.”
CL&P has taken a number of steps to prepare for the peak demand summer months and better serve its 1.2 million customers in 149 cities and towns across Connecticut, including:
- Building new substations in Guilford and Oxford to serve customers in Guilford, Branford, Oxford, Middlebury, Seymour and Southbury;
- Installing additional controls at substations that serve the towns of Bloomfield, East Granby, Granby, Simsbury, Windsor, New Hartford, Canton, Barkhamsted, Avon, Burlington, Stamford and Norwalk;
- Undertaking projects in 47 communities to increase circuit capacity - the ability to provide electricity to customers without compromising the delivery equipment when temperatures and electrical demand are at their highest;
- Performing inspections and follow-up maintenance on all distribution substations in areas where heavy customer demand is expected or where failure of a single piece of equipment would result in long interruptions to large numbers of customers;
- Verifying the integrity and efficiency of cooling equipment at all major substations to ensure the equipment will be appropriately cooled to avoid equipment failures from overheating while carrying peak summer loads;
- Conducting infrared surveys of the state's electric transmission lines (except for no-fly zones) and all of CL&P's 231 substations. These surveys test and verify the integrity of the connections on major electrical delivery systems and help CL&P identify potential trouble spots;
- Completing foot patrols of the transmission lines to inspect electrical equipment and structures;
- Installing new distribution equipment and repairing existing equipment to optimize power delivery systems;
- Performing maintenance and upgrades on underground electric delivery systems to strengthen them and completing work in Meriden and Stamford to upgrade their underground electric delivery systems;
- Working with ISO New England, within the provisions of Connecticut's 2005 Energy Independence Act, to encourage large commercial and industrial customers to consider conservation and load management measures during times of peak demand;
- Testing voltage reduction programs to verify the ability to temporarily reduce demand, if necessary;
- Reviewing and modifying operating procedures; and
- Continuing an aggressive educational and outreach effort to promote conservation measures across the state.
# # #
The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P) has been part of everyday life in Connecticut for more than 100 years, providing safe and reliable electric service to homes, neighborhoods and businesses. With 1.2 million customers in 149 cities and towns, CL&P is an active member in the communities it serves, offering programs in energy conservation, economic development and environmental stewardship. CL&P is part of the Northeast Utilities System (NYSE: NU). For more information, please visit www.cl-p.com.