en.Wedoany.com Reported - Consolidated Edison, Inc., a New York State utility company, has disclosed that its subsidiaries, Consolidated Edison Company of New York and Orange and Rockland Utilities, plan to put 28 new substations into operation by 2035 to address load growth driven by building electrification, transportation electrification, and large commercial projects. The company previously expected to build 22 substations over the same period, an increase of 6 in its current plan.
These substations are part of Con Edison's long-term grid capital investment plan. According to the company's disclosed data, the distribution network investment plan for Consolidated Edison Company of New York and Orange and Rockland Utilities totals approximately $37.2 billion, covering the five boroughs of New York City, parts of southern New York State counties, and portions of northern New Jersey, serving a population of more than 9 million.
Load growth is driven primarily by building heating electrification, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and large urban development projects. Con Edison stated that new building applications in its New York service area can have electrical loads up to 25% higher than those of existing buildings. New York City's Local Law 97 requires buildings larger than 25,000 square feet to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, making building heating and energy system retrofits a key driver of distribution grid expansion.
Additional electricity demand also involves projects such as the JFK International Airport redevelopment, the New York City Football Club stadium and entertainment complex, the Hunts Point mixed-use community in the Bronx, industrial parks, and all-electric food distribution centers. Con Edison is also advancing electric bus and heavy-duty truck charging as well as underground distribution network expansion, with its projects already supporting more than 570 heavy-duty electric trucks and buses.
Some substation projects have already entered the construction phase. The Idlewild grid improvement project in southeastern Queens, New York, involves an investment of approximately $1.2 billion, including a transmission substation, a distribution substation, and the new Springfield distribution network, with a construction period from 2024 to 2028. The Brooklyn Gateway substation and associated underground cable works are also under construction, with the project scheduled for completion in 2028.
Con Edison has not yet released the complete list of the 28 substations, individual substation capacities, or the annual bidding schedule. As projects progressively move into engineering design, regulatory approval, and procurement phases, subsequent procurement is expected to involve power transformers, gas-insulated switchgear, circuit breakers, relay protection and automation systems, underground high-voltage cables, reactive power compensation equipment, fire protection systems, and digital substation monitoring platforms.
