The Long Island Power Authority Board of Trustees is announcing a series of policy changes and strategic initiatives to facilitate underground transmission and distribution lines across Long Island and the Rockaways to enhance reliability and community resilience, LIPA said on Dec. 6.
“This change aligns with LIPA’s ongoing commitment to improving service for its customers while supporting Long Island’s clean energy future with smart, cost-effective investments,” it said.
Under this initiative, LIPA policy will now require all new transmission lines over 65 kilovolts to be constructed underground, with overhead construction only considered when proper justification is provided.
This move is part of LIPA’s broader strategy to fortify the grid against severe weather events, improve service reliability, and meet community-driven goals for environmental stewardship.
“The LIPA Board is committed to reliable and resilient electric service across our territory, and these changes recognize the evolving threat of severe weather and climate change on our system,” said Tracey Edwards, LIPA Board Chair. “We’ve listened closely to our customers and our partners in Government who have called for more undergrounding, especially in areas with consistent service disruptions. Our policy changes demonstrate that we are committed to meeting their needs with thoughtful, sustainable solutions.”
Second, LIPA is evaluating additional undergrounding on mainline distribution, particularly in areas with rear property lines and heavy tree conditions. This work, which involves underground bypasses to improve service reliability, is aligned with ongoing reliability projects funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Forty miles of underground bypass work has already been completed, with an additional nine miles planned over the next three years.
Third, communities “seeking to go underground will have more opportunities to engage with their utility to advance undergrounding.”
LIPA has directed staff to convene an underground working group of key internal and external stakeholders to ensure awareness of existing programs, maximize cost-savings by better coordinating planned work, and identify and help advance projects where communities throughout the service territory seek undergrounding solutions. Better coordination can significantly reduce project costs while providing customer benefits including reliability and aesthetics, it noted.
Additionally, the LIPA Board has requested that new policy guidelines be considered to help inform future distribution-level undergrounding work based on reliability.
Staff will explore undergrounding programs from other utilities to determine if there are cost-effective best practices that can be incorporated into LIPA’s service territory to drive customer reliability. These new guidelines will set out a clear and consistent approach to reliability-driven underground work and ensure that funds spent on these initiatives drive reliability first.
“LIPA is proud to take this major step toward modernizing Long Island’s energy infrastructure,” said John Rhodes, CEO of LIPA. “Our focus on undergrounding reflects our commitment to delivering more reliable service while ensuring fairness for all communities we serve. Over time, these changes will provide long-term benefits for customers, from increased resilience to greater alignment with clean energy initiatives.”
The initiative was unveiled following the release of PSEG Long Island’s Climate Vulnerability Plan.
LIPA contracts with PSEG Long Island to manage its electric system to performance standards specified by its Board of Trustees under a four-year contract.
