Con Ed Plans $1 Billion In Post-Sandy Improvements For Westchester
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - For electric customers north of the city, your utility hopes to be better and keeping your lights on. But it will cost you.
Many lessons have been learned from superstorm Sandy, which knocked out power to more than 320,000 Con Edison customers in Westchester County.
The utility has briefed lawmakers on infrastructure updates and plans a wide range of improvements, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.
Con Ed Plans $1 Billion In Post-Sandy Improvements For Westchester
15 to 18 miles of vital transmission lines will be going underground in a few years, the utility said.
They also plan for localized to affect fewer homes as they reduce the number of customers between switches to 500.
The Journal News reported that currently there are between 700 and 1,200 customers between switches.
But that's not all, according to spokesman Chris Olert.
"In Westchester County in particular, we're looking at some new pole designs and some resilient cables so that when a cable comes from violent winds, we can restore customers more quickly," Olert told Adams.
The new poles would be made of steel and concrete.
They will also increase tree trimming.
All of this will cost about $1 billion and Con Ed wants to increase its rates by roughly $400 million for 2014. For the average bill, that will be an extra $4 a month.
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