49.0°,
Fair Blackout briefly shuts down village
Failed transmission from PSEG stopped power for two hours
On Oct. 14, a blackout shut down much of the village for two hours in the morning.
The problem started at 8:30 a.m. when a transmission feed from PSEG-LI, the electric provider for much of Long Island, was interrupted, affecting approximately 11,000 village electric customers.
“The cause of the transmission outage is being investigated at this time by the Village of Rockville Centre and PSEG-LI,” said village spokeswoman Julie Scully. “A LIRR Rectifier that is also supplied from the LIPA Transmission System may have been at the root cause of the problem.”
After the blackout started, the village started switching over to its own power generation to restore electricity. Full restoration was completed by 10:50 a.m.
Though the village has its own power plant, it does not always generate its own electricity. The village purchases electricity through an agreement with the New York Power Authority. Most of the village’s electricity is actually transmitted from the Niagra Falls hydroelectric power plant. The village also purchases power from other plants on Long Island and in the state.
The blackout occurred because the PSEG-LI transmission line is the main feed through which the village receives that power. When it failed, the village stopped receiving electricity from outside and had to switch to its own generators.
PSEG-LI does not supply power to the village, it simply transmits it. The village uses the purchasing agreement for power because it is cheaper than continuously generating its own power. The village supplants the power that’s transmitted in with its own generation during peak times in the summer.
The system also allows the village to take over generation when outside power can’t be supplied,. It’s what allowed the village to stay lit during the summer blackout in 2003 and in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.
“The Village of Rockville Centre is one of the only three communities on Long Island to operate its own electric utility, which provides residents with advantages in cost and reliability-allowing residents power to be restored in a timely fashion,” Scully said. Freeport and Greenport are the other two communities with their own electric utilities.
