LIPA/Neptune Activate New Cable Bringing Lower-Cost Energy Directly to Long
Island from New Jersey for the First Time
New Neptune Cable Delivers 660 Megawatts to LIPA System,
Opens Electric Transmission Corridor from Mid-Atlantic to New England
New Cassel, NY – June 28, 2007 – The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA)
and Neptune Regional Transmission System, LLC today announced that the Neptune
electric transmission cable between New Jersey and Long Island has completed
testing and has been in trial operations under the control of the Long Island
Power Authority (LIPA) during this week’s heat wave, providing low cost energy
to Long Island just in time for the peak summer season when demand for
electricity is highest.
The over $600 million, 65-mile long Neptune Regional Transmission System is
an undersea and underground High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) system that
includes a cable that runs from Sayreville, New Jersey to New Cassel in the Town
of North Hempstead in Nassau County. It carries 660 megawatts (MW) of energy,
which is enough to meet the electricity demands of about 600,000 average-sized
homes.
“Long Island enters a new era with the Neptune cable,” said LIPA Chairman
Kevin Law. “The Neptune cable provides LIPA with the opportunity to acquire
lower-cost energy to meet customer needs while providing more flexibility in
selecting the markets from which we acquire that energy. It is a significant
win-win for Long Island.”
“I am extremely pleased that the Neptune cable is now providing much needed
energy for Long Island at the start of the summer season when demand for
electricity is highest,” said LIPA CEO and President Richard M. Kessel. “When we
first proposed the idea of an Atlantic cable in early 2003, the critics doubted
it could be done. Through the hard work and dedication of a great many people at
LIPA, Neptune and KeySpan personnel, and the regulatory entities involved with
the review and approval of this project, Long Island will be well served by the
Neptune cable for decades to come.”
“The Neptune project is an example of how this type of technology can bring
much-needed electric power and transmission infrastructure to densely populated
areas in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way,” said Edward M.
Stern, Neptune’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Many American cities
that face growing demand for energy would be well served by implementing
projects such as Neptune – and more renewable energy projects would be built to
serve such demand,” Stern added.
“In completing the project ahead of schedule and in time for the summer peak
load period, we want to acknowledge the extraordinary teamwork and cooperation
from LIPA, our principal contractors Siemens and Prysmian as well as from
KeySpan, PJM, NYISO, and various Federal, New Jersey and New York State agencies
such as the New York Office of Parks and Historic Preservation, Department of
Transportation, Department of Environmental Conservation, and Department of
Public Services, and from the Towns of North Hempstead and Hempstead, and the
Borough of Sayreville, New Jersey.”
In 2004, Neptune was selected as the off-Island component of a diverse
portfolio of resources developed under a comprehensive request for proposals
(RFP) process in accordance with the procurement requirements of the State of
New York. The on-Island component is the Caithness Long Island Energy Center
project, a 350 MW combined cycle generating facility currently under
construction in Yaphank, Suffolk County, which is expected to be in service by
the summer of 2009.
The PJM Interconnection controls the electric generating capacity in all
parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey,
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the
District of Columbia. By comparison, the electric generating capacity in the
LIPA service area is about 5,000 MW.
PJM’s relatively low cost power sources include hydroelectric, biomass,
natural gas, nuclear, coal and wind.
Under LIPA’s 20 year agreement with Neptune, up to 660 MW of electricity will
be delivered to a station in Sayreville, New Jersey, where it will be converted
from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) for efficient transmission
to Long Island via the undersea and underground HVDC cable. The cable route
travels east 51 miles from the Jersey shore to a point south of Jones Beach on
Long Island, then goes north to another station in New Cassel where the
electricity will be converted back to AC for use on LIPA’s system. The power is
delivered to LIPA’s Newbridge Road substation in Levittown.
To get the power out to LIPA’s grid, the Newbridge Road substation was
substantially upgraded, and new underground transmission lines were installed
that connect it to the East Garden City substation to the west, and the Ruland
Road substation to the east in Melville. Both the East Garden City and Ruland
Road substations underwent major upgrades to receive the power and make it
deliverable to LIPA’s customers.
The LIPA Board of Trustees approved a firm transmission capacity agreement (FTCPA)
for the Neptune project in September 2004. The Office of the State Attorney
General and the Office the State Comptroller reviewed the FTCPA and approved it
in January 2005. Construction of the Neptune system began in July 2005.
In June 2004, the 330 MW Cross-Sound Cable went into regular commercial
service, linking Shoreham, Long Island to New Haven Connecticut. Together, the
Neptune and Cross Sound cable systems provide LIPA with direct access to two
independent power pools in the PJM and New England markets. They add a combined
990 megawatts of off-Island resources to LIPA’s supply.
LIPA, a non-profit municipal electric utility, owns the
retail electric transmission and distribution system on Long Island and provides
electric service to more than 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk
counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. LIPA is the 3rd largest municipal
electric utility in the nation in terms of customers served and the 6th largest
in terms of electricity delivered. In 2006, LIPA outperformed all other overhead
electric utilities in New York State in all three major reliability categories.
LIPA does not provide natural gas service or own any on-Island generating
assets. More information about LIPA can be found online at
www.lipower.org.
Neptune Regional Transmission System, LLC of Fairfield
Connecticut, is a developer, owner, and operator of the Neptune HVDC
transmission project, responsible for its planning, permitting, financing and
construction. Neptune principals are also currently developing additional
undersea and underground transmission systems in the Northeast, utilizing
similar technology and encouraging private investment in critical transmission
infrastructure to serve densely populated areas in a cost-effective and
environmentally sound manner.
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