PSEG Long Island starts reliability upgrades for circuits in Fort Salonga

On the north shore of New York’s Long Island, work began last month in Fort Salonga to improve circuit reliability and harden the area’s system against storms.

PSEG Long Island began dispatching licensed and approved contractors to distribution lines at the end of October and predicted that work will last approximately two months. These efforts will focus on four aspects: replacing poles with new poles capable of withstanding winds up to 135 mph, installing shorter cross arms to deflect falling limbs, deploying more resilient and durable wire, and upgrading or replacing worn equipment as needed.

“We are working hard to reduce the number of outages that occur during severe weather by strengthening the electric lines that directly power homes and businesses,” Peggy Keane, vice president of construction and operations services for PSEG Long Island, said. “This Power On infrastructure improvement project in Fort Salonga is part of PSEG Long Island’s ongoing, multi-year effort to continue to improve electric reliability for customers.”

The program known as Power On began in 2020 under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). While FEMA’s role has long since ended, PSEG Long Island picked up the slack and over the course of time has hardened more than 318 miles of vulnerable distribution mainline and branch line circuits. According to PSEG Long Island, between Q3 2022 and Q3 2023 alone, the sections of circuits hardened by these efforts provided a 44 percent reduction in damage leading to outages compared to the larger system.

Ongoing work will focus on Fresh Pond Road between Fort Salonga Road and Claymore Road, Breeze Hill Road between Fresh Pond Road and the intersection at Brookfield Road and Woodmere Drive, and Woodmere Drive between Brookfield Road and Fort Salonga Road. Cones, flaggers, and signage will be deployed, and local officials notified in advance of any possible traffic worries.