The Propel NY Energy Project, a planned 90-mile upgrade to New York State’s power grid, including an eight-mile stretch in Queens, aims to bolster a portion of the state’s electric transmission network, which officials have described as the “backbone” of the power grid.
Propel NY, a joint public-private venture by New York Transco and the New York Power Authority (NYPA) aims to improve reliability and resiliency along a 90-mile stretch in parts of Westchester, Long Island and New York City by installing underground and submarine transmission lines.
The project, which is slated to undergo construction between 2026 and 2030, is scheduled to become operational by May 2030 and will introduce four new electrical stations across New York City, Westchester and Long Island as part of efforts to reduce “congestion” on the transmission grid.
New York’s transmission system is a network of lines and substations that carry electricity long distances from where it is generated to the local distribution systems that supply the state’s homes and businesses.
The eight-mile segment of the planned upgrades in Queens will bring updated transmission lines from the existing Uniondale Hub substation, crossing North Hempstead on Long Island before crossing into Queens County along Northern Boulevard.
The planned eight-mile segment will then turn onto 217th Street before briefly turning onto 37th Avenue and then proceeding along Bell Boulevard, eventually exiting Queens at the East River at 147th Street.
The Queens segment is part of a 23-mile stretch between the existing Tremont substation in the Bronx and the Uniondale Hub on Long Island, with Queens upgrades scheduled to take place in Whitestone, Beechhurst, Bay Terrace, Clearview, Bayside and Little Neck.
Officials did not have an estimated timeline for the Queens portion of the project but stated that the construction team aims to complete 50 to 150 feet of the transmission line every day and said some parts of the projects will undergo construction simultaneously.
New York Transco Director of Communications Shannon Baxevanis stressed that all planned upgrades are preliminary, pending the approval of permits for the project. Baxevanis stated that NYPA and NY Transco may tweak the route of the planned upgrades based on community feedback and encouraged all members of the local community to submit their opinions on the project.
Propel NY will host a series of community information sessions in the coming months, including three New York City-based sessions, starting with an event at the Korean Community Services Center at 203-05 32nd Ave. in Auburndale, between 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 4. NYPA and NY Transco will also host an information session at the Castle Hill YMCA in the Bronx on March 6, in addition to a virtual meeting on April 10.
Each information session will feature a presentation followed by a moderated Q&A and an open house to engage with the project team.
NYPA and NY Transco representatives pointed to a wealth of public outreach initiatives that took place before the ongoing permitting process began, including 17 community open houses, door-to-door campaigns and direct mailing campaigns. Representatives for Propel NY also set up tables at nine different community events during the pre-permitting process.
The ongoing permitting process, which is estimated to take around two years, allows the Public Service Commission, state agencies and other stakeholders to review the Propel NY application. When the Public Service Commission deems the application is complete, the project will move onto public statement hearings, with all members of the public invited to put remarks directly on the record.
Baxevanis said Propel NY aims to be “very robust, very deliberative and very much open and transparent to the public.”
Susan Craig, strategic communications associate with NYPA, described the planned work as comprehensive and a major overhaul to existing infrastructure but said it was necessary to improve the transmission network and move cables underground.
Craig stated that over 80% of New York State’s energy infrastructure was built before the 1980s, resulting in “bottlenecks” along existing transmission lines and potentially leading to billions of dollars in losses for local businesses due to the risk of blackouts.
Officials at NYPA and New York Transco also anticipate that energy demand will rise by up to 90% in the next 20 years, which would put further strain on an already outdated system.
Officials at the two agencies are also keen to dispel any “myths” surrounding Propel NY, stating that the project is not a battery storage project or an offshore wind project. Instead, they stated the project is not tied to any generation source and aims to upgrade core infrastructure for all generation sources, describing the project as an underground transmission project.
Planned upgrades outside New York City include a stretch of underground transmission cables linking the existing Sprain Brook Substation in Westchester with a newly-constructed substation at Shore Road on Long Island. The Shore Road Substation will also be linked to existing substations at Uniondale and Syosset, in addition to a newly constructed substation at Long Island’s Ruland Road. Uniondale Hub will additionally be linked to a planned substation at Barrett for a total of six new underground transmission line segments.
The project aims to create a “345kV resilient backbone”, referring to 345kV high-voltage transmission lines that transfer power throughout a power grid. Representatives of Propel NY said the use of 345kV lines in New York dates back to the 1950s, with the use of underground 345kV lines dating back to the 1960s.
