By TIFFANY RAZZANO
, with the project set to be completed sometime this fall after breaking ground on March 29. The new substation, which will cost Rockville Centre $7 million, will permit the village to import 15 megawatts of electricity for less money than it can be produced at the village power plant.
The village can currently import up to 29 megawatts of inexpensive hydropower generated by Niagara Falls from the New York Power Authority. It is also able to generate 33 megawatts of electricity from the eight engines at the village power plant. However, because of the age of some of the engines one is 57-years-old, another 65 it is cheaper and more efficient to import electricity from outside sources. In fact, the older generators are only used as a last resort on days with higher peak electricity demands, or loads; the hydropower is the first source used.
The average peak load on a winter day is approximately 31 megawatts of electricity, while the average on a typical summer day is between 40 and 45 megawatts. The village recorded its record peak load of 55.6 megawatts last summer, on August 3, making it important for the village to find other sources of electricity.
³It will take about three years to complete the rewiring of all circuits into the new substation,² said Jeff Kluewer, village spokesman. ³When that work is completed, the village will be able to import an additional 15 megawatts of power from available sources. We can import power more cheaply than it can be generated at the Maple Avenue power plant, so the substation gives us important flexibility as the deregulated energy market becomes more and more complex.²
He added, ³When the new substation is fully operational, the village will be able to import up to 45 megawatts of electricity, greatly increasing its flexibility in achieving the most economical mix of imported and home-generated electricity.²
Twenty new circuit breakers will be added to the Electric Department¹s current distribution system, allowing the village to reconnect many of its distribution cables onto single circuit breakers, increasing the system¹s reliability. ³Right now during cable failures, uninvolved circuits are impacted when a circuit breaker trips,² said Electric Department Superintendent Paul Pallas. ³By reducing the number of cables attached to each circuit breaker, we will minimize the impact of outages and aid in the troubleshooting process. This will improve reliability.²
Electric rates will also increase slightly in the fall, though the village¹s rates will remain the lowest in the area. Currently, it costs village residents $45.85 for 500 kilowatts of electricity. This is less than half LIPA¹s rate, which charges $96.61 for the same amount of electricity, and Con Edison, which charges $106.49. Greenport and Freeport, the only other municipalities whose electric utilities have access to hydropower, charge $51.79 and $51.81 respectively, for 500 kilowatts.
Residents will see an increase of about 2 percent on their electric bills this fall, after the new substation becomes operational. This is the second phase of an electric rate increase, the only rate increase the village has seen since the early 1990s. The first phase of that increase, implemented in June 2004, brought a hike of 10 to 11 percent. That increase covered the Electric Department¹s higher operating expenses. The upcoming increase will cover the costs of the new substation.
Kluewer also says the village has commissioned a study of its future energy needs, especially as its generators continue to get older and electrical demand by both residents and businesses mount each year. ³The village must decide, in some combination, how to encourage end use efficiencies through educational and other programs to help control the growth in demand, whether to build new generators and whether to increase its import capacity by building more substations and transmission lines,² he said.
Comments about this story? TRazzano@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 221.
