Thursday, October 1, 2026
PSEG Long Island has completed a series of electric system upgrades ahead of the summer season, including several projects to improve reliability and increase capacity.
“PSEG Long Island personnel evaluate the system, plan and make improvements all year round to ensure the grid is ready for summer's extreme weather conditions," Michael Sullivan, vice president of Electric Operations at PSEG Long Island, said. "We continue to make the investments and improvements that we have been making since 2014 to deliver consistent, resilient power to our customers, today and in the future."
Among the projects is the installation of a new 69-kilovolt underground transmission circuit between the Belmont and Lake Success substations. The project will add electrical capacity serving Elmont and Floral Park, as well as growing demand associated with UBS Arena, Belmont Village and businesses expected to serve visitors to Belmont Park.
The utility also completed repairs to the underground pipe-type cable connecting the Barrett and Valley Stream substations. The work will enhance electrical resiliency and strengthen service reliability for residential customers in Long Beach, Oceanside and the Five Towns.
At the Barrett and Bayport substations, aging transformers were replaced to improve system resiliency and support reliable electric service. The Barrett substation serves the Long Beach area, while the Bayport substation serves Fire Island communities.
Additional distribution improvements included the installation or upgrade of feeder lines in Central Islip, Arverne and Syosset to accommodate load growth. The projects increase system capacity to support new demand in each area.
In the Rockaway Beach area, the utility replaced underground cables and network protector transformers at Dayton Towers. The project is intended to improve reliability and reduce the likelihood of future service interruptions for residential customers.
Other infrastructure projects completed ahead of summer include expansion of the Holbrook substation to support the Sunrise Wind Project, installation of a new underground transmission circuit between the Bridgehampton and Buell substations, additions of distribution transformers and switchgear at the Miller Place substation and upgrades to distribution circuits in the East Hampton area.
PSEG Long Island has also continued system hardening efforts. Since 2014, the utility has strengthened more than 1,400 miles of distribution circuits with stronger poles, wire and crossarms. The company reported that from the first quarter of last year through the first quarter of this year, storm-hardened sections of the system experienced a 45 percent reduction in outage-causing damage compared with the rest of the distribution network.
The utility is also installing automatic branch line reclosers through a Federal Emergency Management Agency-funded program. By this fall, approximately 8,500 units are expected to be installed under the grant, bringing the total number of reclosers on the system to about 10,000.
PSEG Long Island’s tree-trimming program continues year-round across Long Island and the Rockaways. The company trims all 9,000 miles of distribution circuits and 1,000 miles of transmission circuits every four years and has completed that cycle three times since 2014.
The utility has also conducted hurricane and tropical storm drills, employee training, summer operating planning and reliability analyses as part of preparations for the 2026 hurricane season and periods of extreme heat.
