Resiliency
In November 2012, a commission was formed under the Moreland Act to investigate New York power utilities’ preparation for and response to major storms affecting their service areas over the past two years. While reviewing the actions taken by these utilities during times of emergency, the commission issued specific recommendations to Governor Cuomo regarding what the commission felt were opportunities for improving storm preparation and response by the power sector. In June 2013, the City of New York, through the Office of the Mayor’s Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency and PlaNYC, released a plan identifying recommendations for rebuilding communities ravaged by Superstorm Sandy, and improving the resiliency of infrastructure throughout the city.
Con Edison of New York and Orange and Rockland’s safe and reliable delivery of electricity, gas, and steam rely on urban and regional infrastructure. From 2013 to 2016, Con Edison has proposed to invest approximately $1 billion to improve the resiliency of the electric and gas delivery systems and the electrical and steam generating stations. Con Edison’s continued dedication to improving its service delivery during and after weather emergencies is discussed in this section.
We must also be resilient to threats against our systems and customer service that are not rooted in weather conditions or extreme acts of nature. Cyber and physical security are equally important to Con Edison, and in this section we discuss initiative and some proactive measures we are taking to keep our business and our stakeholders protected.
Post-Sandy Enhancement
In the post-Sandy era, Con Edison of New York will continue to invest in systems that are designed to withstand increasingly severe weather. We have proposed $1 billion in measures to fortify and protect our systems. We plan to install stronger flood barriers and more submersible equipment, raise critical equipment, and strategically bring overhead power lines underground. We will install additional state-of-the art monitoring sensors, switches, and related smart-grid technologies to improve the flexibility of our system. Our long-range investment plan remains focused on keeping our systems reliable and safe for our customers.
For Con Edison of New York’s electric substations and electric and steam generating stations, the highest risk of damage during a severe weather event is from flooding due to storm surge. Prior to Sandy, Con Edison already had a specification in place to protect new facilities and critical equipment from higher-than-expected potential flood levels. The damage caused by Sandy’s unprecedented flooding and the resulting impact to customers clearly identified the need to retrofit older facilities that were installed well before this specification was established.
Con Edison acted immediately following Sandy to protect its stations for the 2013 hurricane season. This involved, at minimum, effectively protecting each impacted station against a potential repeat event. In parallel, we developed protective plans through 2016 and presented these plans to the Public Service Commission in electric, gas, and steam rate cases, with storm hardening as a central focus. Con Edison convened a Storm Hardening Collaborative in parallel with the rate cases to provide parties an opportunity to fully examine our proposals.
A primary focus of the collaborative was the design standard for flood protection. Through discussions with the Public Service Commission, New York City officials, the Office of the Attorney General, and various other rate case parties including environmental groups, it was agreed that the company would revise its flood protection standard for the storm hardening program. Con Edison therefore established the most current FEMA 100-year flood level plus three feet as the new design standard for retrofitting stations and protecting critical equipment. This design standard will be applied to all future projects being pursued in the Storm Hardening program over the next three to four years.
In addition to preliminary measures already installed in 2013, protective storm hardening measures will be installed between 2014 and 2017 to protect our at-risk substations and generating stations against potential flooding from severe weather events exacerbated by future climate change and sea-level rise. Con Edison of New York will also pursue a Climate Change Vulnerability Study that will project future changes in climate, particularly in humidity, heat and heat waves, and identify mitigation options to protect equipment and maintain reliable service.
Orange and Rockland also faces reliability issues during severe weather. In Con Edison’s most-inland service territory comprising 1,350 square miles, flooding is less of an impending force against the predominantly above-ground system. With over 550 circuit miles of transmission line and 3,800 pole miles of overhead distribution line, Orange and Rockland must maintain reliable customer service threatened by high winds, falling trees, and ice and snow accumulation.
In response to the effects of Superstorm Sandy, Orange and Rockland has committed to spending $35 million in storm-hardening measures to strengthen the electric system and make it more flexible when repairs are needed. The projects and initiatives are being undertaking to reduce the number, frequency and duration of electric service outages the utility’s customers experience during severe storms, as well as to improve its information systems to more fully respond to customers’ needs. In 2013, Orange and Rockland completed four underground feeder construction projects and ten overhead feeder construction projects. Four more underground and ten more overhead projects are planned for 2014. In total, these modifications will aid in service reliability for the lines which were previously above ground. Orange and Rockland’s investment in storm hardening measures in 2013 reached $9.5 million, and is projected to be over $22 million in 2014.
For more information, please read on about Con Edison of New York’s plans, and Orange and Rockland’s plans to weather the next storm of the century.
Con Edison of New York Capital Expenditures for Storm Hardening
(million $)
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Choose the year
to see details: - 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- Electric Substations
- Electric Network Dist.
- Electric Overhead Dist.
- Transformers
- Electric Trans.
- Electric / Steam Gen.
- Gas / Tunnels
- Telecomm.
- Facilities
Milestones Achieved in 2013
Con Edison of New York completed approximately $36 million in storm hardening investments in 2013 to protect substations and generating stations against another severe coastal storm event. Storm hardening measures were installed at nine substations and three generating stations that were impacted by Sandy. Measures included reinforced concrete flood walls around critical equipment, submersible pumps to control water infiltration, flood doors and gates at station openings, and expansive foam sealant in cable conduits and troughs.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity remains a priority at Con Edison of New York, Orange and Rockland, and to the energy industry at large. The potential for a remote attacker to compromise customer accounts, gain access to protected information, affect physical equipment, and threaten system reliability has prompted a major change in utilities’ approach to their information networks and users over the past decade.
Cybersecurity
Continuous Improvement
At Con Edison of New York and Orange and Rockland, we continued to expand our focus on cybersecurity in 2013. Our formal cybersecurity program uses ISO 27000’s Cybersecurity Framework. Under that program, a suite of processes, procedures, working groups, and executive-level oversight formally manages and governs cybersecurity practices across the company. We also formally commissioned our new Network Operations Center (NOC) —the “control center” for the company’s information networks.
We continued to subject our networks to regular vulnerability assessments and network penetration tests, where “white hat” hackers are brought in to find any security flaws before they can be exploited by a malicious attacker. Lessons learned from these exercises are documented and addressed. We also continued to strengthen our network architecture by segmenting networks to fully segregate critical system components from basic business functions, thereby mitigating some insider threats. Through this process, we are designing our networks using industry best practices, building response capabilities in from the ground up.
We are also working to build user awareness of “phishing” threats, where employees are targeted by e-mail and are tricked into downloading malware. We conducted several drills targeting each employee and recording their responses. When an employee clicks on a link during an unannounced drill, they are presented with a “CyberAware” message instructing them why they should not have clicked on the link. We also continue to host tabletop drills cross the company, which inform the development of cyber event response plans in each organization.
Public-Private Partnership
Con Edison of New York and Orange & Rockland are both working hand-in-hand with federal and state agencies to keep abreast of new and evolving threats, benchmark best practices, evaluate our current defensive posture, and drill response to a potential event. We coordinate with the U.S. Departments of Energy (DOE) and Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) on a range of issues related to cybersecurity. In 2013, we participated in NERC’s continent-wide cybersecurity drill GridEx II and in DOE’s “Poison Apple” drill.
We will continue to support and engage in public-private efforts to improve cybersecurity in our sector. More locally, we look forward to further engagement with state regulators and peer utilities through a cybersecurity benchmarking group we recently helped to establish.
Physical Security
2013 brought heightened awareness of the importance of physical security to our nation’s energy systems. A structured attack on PG&E’s Metcalf substation in California highlighted the impact an informed attacker could have on energy infrastructure.
Securing our critical infrastructure from physical damage or attack is an ongoing priority for Con Edison of New York and Orange and Rockland. Security enhancements, including intrusion detection systems, closed circuit television monitored locally and remotely, card access systems, and contact alarms, are already in place at key sites including substations, natural gas terminals, and control centers across our territory. We are spending more than $73 million over the next five years to further enhance physical security measures across our system.