2013 Infrastructure Enhancements Ensure Reliable Energy For National Grid Customers
(PRWEB) February 12, 2014 -- To continue providing its customers with the most reliable service possible, especially as a changing climate increases the number and severity of extreme weather events, National Grid made a $462 million investment to enhance the resiliency, efficiency and safety of its Massachusetts infrastructure in 2013. This total includes $172 million in electric infrastructure investment and $290 million for natural gas infrastructure.
“We constantly reinvest in our gas and electric systems to ensure the power stays on and gas is delivered to our customers reliably and safely,” said Marcy Reed, president of National Grid in Massachusetts. “As our network and our customers' expectations continue to evolve, we anticipate even more opportunities for our company to invest in new technologies and new energy sources, creating new Massachusetts jobs in the process.”
The $172 million electric infrastructure investment included replacing more than 6,500 utility poles, 4,000 transformers and thousands of other pieces of equipment around the state, as well as long-term projects to enhance the reliability of service for National Grid’s 1.3 million electric customers in Massachusetts. For example, among dozens of other projects completed in 2013, the company added a new power cable and upgraded existing supply lines serving Cape Ann to improve electric service resiliency for customers in Essex, Hamilton, Rockport and Wenham.
National Grid’s $290 million investment in its gas infrastructure last year included replacing more than 160 miles of gas mains, adding 30 miles of new mains and 7,500 new gas customers, and performing significant resiliency work on 19 regulator stations, to enhance the safety and reliability of the Massachusetts natural gas network.
To prepare its infrastructure for increasingly severe weather, National Grid constantly assesses key vulnerabilities throughout its gas and electric systems, flood-proofing critical equipment, prepositioning more repair equipment and fuel supplies before storms, reducing the risk of downed power lines from fallen trees and limbs, and enhancing communications with customers and stakeholders. As it strives to provide an energy backbone that prevents and reduces the impact of outages, the company plans to steadily increase its infrastructure investment going forward, investing more than $1.1 billion in electric infrastructure and $1.8 billion in gas infrastructure over the next five years.
The company is also investing in the future of its infrastructure with projects such as the Smart Energy Solutions program in Worcester. This 15,000-customer pilot program uses grid modernization solutions – including advanced meters and communications systems – that will offer National Grid customers better data about their energy usage, thereby enabling them to make more informed decisions. National Grid will also be able to use these tools to increase its service reliability and improve power outage and emergency restoration response.
National Grid’s approach to planning and operating energy infrastructure in Massachusetts empowers customers and communities by providing an increasingly resilient, accessible and agile infrastructure, enabling new technologies to be implemented more quickly and engaging customers so that they can make informed energy choices.
About National Grid
National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE:NGG) is an electricity and gas company that connects consumers to energy sources through its networks. The company is at the heart of one of the greatest challenges facing our society - to create new, sustainable energy solutions for the future and developing an energy system that underpins economic prosperity in the 21st century. National Grid holds a vital position at the center of the energy system and it ‘joins everything up’.
In the northeast US, we connect more than seven million gas and electric customers to vital energy sources, essential for our modern lifestyles. In Great Britain, we run the gas and electricity systems that our society is built on, delivering gas and electricity across the country.
National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
For more information please visit our website: http://www.nationalgridus.com.
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Media Relations, National Grid, +1 781-907-3980, [email protected]
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