The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), which is now testing the 660 MW Neptune subsea electric transmission cable, expects to have plenty of electricity to meet base summer peak demand of about 5,300 MW in its control area, as well as an extreme peak demand of 5,936 MW.

When temperatures reach into the high 90s and above for several days, “it’s entirely possible that the extreme peak electric demand on Long Island could exceed the 6,000 MW level for the first time in Long Island’s history,” LIPA noted. LIPA supplies power to more than 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens.

LIPA’s all-time peak summer demand record of 5,792 MW was set last year during extreme hot and humid weather conditions on Aug. 3 (see NGI, Aug. 7, 2006). Last year’s record was 525 MW, or 10%, higher than 2005’s peak of 5,267 MW. In fact, LIPA’s average summer peak demand island-wide has increased by 1,444 MW, or 33%, since LIPA became Long Island’s nonprofit electric utility in 1998.

LIPA expects to have 6,830 MW of supply available from both on- and off-island resources this summer. The power authority has added about 1,860 MW — including the new 660 MW Neptune cable — of supply capability since 2001, which is the most for any region in the state.

“We’re entering this year’s summer season in excellent shape with our available energy supply,” said LIPA CEO Richard M. Kessel. “We’ve gone from a region teetering on the brink of blackouts just a few years ago to a region with enough resources to meet an extreme demand with a comfortable margin to spare.

“It’s been an historic undertaking to get the Neptune cable and all of the new energy supply resources on line and infrastructure upgrades successfully completed over the years, and LIPA’s dedicated and hard working employees should be complimented for staying focused on getting the job done to keep Long Island’s lights on.”

According to the Neptune Regional Transmission System LLC, the Neptune electric transmission cable between New Jersey and Long Island has completed testing and is in trial operations under LIPA’s control. The on-Long Island component of the Neptune cable is the Caithness Long Island Energy Center project, a 350 MW combined-cycle generating facility currently under construction in Yaphank, NY. The center is expected to be in service by summer 2009 (see NGI, Sept. 18, 2006).

In 2004, the 330 MW Cross-Sound Cable went into regular commercial service, linking Shoreham, on Long Island, to New Haven, CT, and together, the Neptune and Cross Sound cable systems will provide LIPA with direct access to two independent power pools in the PJM Interconnection and New England markets, adding a combined 990 MW of off-Long Island resources to LIPA’s supply.

“We can’t rest on our laurels, however,” said Kessel. “We need to press forward with the Caithness Long Island Energy Center project…, and we will need to redouble our efforts to get LIPA’s customers to use electricity more efficiently.”

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