Avangrid Subsidiaries NYSEG and RG&E Deliver Best Reliability in Five Years
In 2023, Companies saw year-over-year improvements in outage frequency and duration
More than $320 million in infrastructure investments planned across the state this year to continue this trend
BINGHAMTON, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) subsidiaries of Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), a leading sustainable energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, today announced their best reliability in five years. Delivering energy safely and reliably to their 1.9 million customers is the top priority for NYSEG and RG&E. As the electric and gas infrastructure in Upstate New York ages, the Companies invest in the grid via reliability projects and upgrades to realize this objective. In 2023, both NYSEG and RG&E delivered their best reliability results in the last five years, with significant year-over-year improvements. This critical work will continue, particularly due to the size and scope of resiliency work needed to support growing dependency on electricity.
“With the increasingly intense and frequent storms in our region and growing electric demand, our customers deserve continued resiliency and improved reliability, and the $5.2 billion of investments approved in our latest rate case enable that forward momentum,” said Pedro Azagra, CEO of Avangrid. “Enabling New York to have more reliable power, shorter or avoided outages, and new smart meter technology helps customers manage their energy costs; we will continue to invest to improve even more.”
The New York Public Service Commission sets reliability targets for its utilities in the form of System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) and Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI) metrics. These require the Companies to meet targets for both how often outages happen as well as the duration of those outages.
In 2024, NYSEG and RG&E will invest $38 million in resiliency projects which include rebuilding circuits in Brewster, Elmira, Lancaster, Liberty, Oneonta and Rochester Central; $35 million in automation, which add an additional 294 locations where they can remotely control equipment from the Energy Control Center; and more than $250 million on replacing aging substation and overhead line equipment.
NYSEG and RG&E will also replace 45,000 aging electrical poles statewide, resume tree trimming on a regular cycle in NYSEG territory, and continue with non-pipes and non-wires alternatives to traditional upgrades.
When a customer’s power is out, restoration can’t come soon enough, but NYSEG and RG&E are taking the steps necessary to modernize the grid to provide the safe, reliable service that’s vital to our way of life. These results prove that investing in the electric infrastructure is the key to provide customers with the power they need, when they need it; this is a responsibility the Companies take seriously.
About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $41 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, Avangrid has two primary lines of business: networks and renewables. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Through its renewables business, Avangrid owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. Avangrid employs more than 7,500 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens. In 2024, Avangrid ranked first among utilities and 12 overall. The company supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2023 for the fifth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.
Contacts
Media:
Shelby Cohen
Shelby.cohen@avangrid.com
607-788-6785
