O&R Projects That Requested Utility Improvements Will Create a 10% Increase in Rates by January 2025

On Friday, Orange and Rockland Utilities (O&R) filed an electric and natural gas delivery investment plan with the New York State Public Service Commission (NYSPSC). 

The plan is designed to expand O&R's electric system capacity to serve growing residential and commercial demand, modernize the electric system to integrate more renewable energy to meet clean energy goals and fortify it to protect it from weather threats. The plan also proposes programs to enhance customer service, broaden customer outreach and education, and assist the company's most vulnerable customers. 

O&R's filing on Friday was the first step in an intensive public review process with the NYSDPS and interested parties, including energy industry representatives and consumer and environmental advocacy groups. Customer input through public hearings and written comments is also part of the process.

O&R  is proposing several projects to reinforce the electric system and improve resilience in the face of increasingly severe weather.

Among the projects that relate to Rockland County is  Overhead Distribution System Hardening, which will replace open wires with stronger bundled wires to mitigate system exposure to external hazards such as tree contact.

The suggested Distribution Automation/Smart Grid Project will accelerate the installation of computer-controlled devices to operate electric circuits to reduce the number of customers affected and the duration of their electric service outages by automatically isolating system damage.

The suggested Hazard Tree Removal Program will increase annual tree removal from the 1,300 hazardous trees removed per year currently. This is expected to reduce power outages by helping prevent downed trees from damaging electric equipment, powerlines, and supporting structures.

The suggested Line 705 Project will provide a new underground transmission line running 5.5 miles across Clarkstown to provide an additional source of electricity for Rockland County. In addition, the new transmission line's connection to a new transformer bank in West Nyack will improve electric service reliability, resiliency, and capacity for a large number of Clarkstown and Orangetown customers.

O&R also proposed the building of a new substation in Clarkstown, an upgrade to the Monsey substation and the Corporate Drive substation in Orangetown, underground, and overhead power lines at eleven strategic Rockland locations including Nanuet, Spring Valley, West Haverstraw, and West Nyack.

The Burns Substation Upgrade Project in Nanuet will provide a substation transformer and circuit capacity to support interconnection projects and beneficial electrification.   

O&R also wishes to replace the CSX West Shore transmission structures in Congers, expand the Pomona battery storage project, and install four battery storage systems to address electric vehicle growth in Haverstraw, Nyack, Middletown, and Sloatsburg. 

Overall, customers' electric bills would rise by 3.7 percent while

O&R's proposed Gas Investment Plan seeks an additional $14.4 million for the gas system and will increase customer gas bills by 6.3 percent.

If approved by the NYSPSC, the new rates for delivering electric and natural gas would become effective January 1, 2025.