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Released November 24, 2021 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Utilities across the U.S. have been struggling to keep up with rapid changes in power generation, as well as the means of delivering it to customers. Over the past decade, major utilities across the U.S. have spent more on transmission and distribution (T&D) than on actual power production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), as costs rise for the fuel, labor and materials needed to expand and repair the nation's aging, often inadequate T&D system. Industrial Info is tracking about $7.5 billion worth of T&D projects under construction across the U.S., about 45% of which is attributed to projects in the West Coast and Northeastern regions.
Click on the image at right for a heat map of T&D projects under construction across the U.S., from Industrial Info's Geolocator tool.
Not surprisingly, the most heavily populated areas have seen the highest demand for new T&D capacity to replace aging equipment, to accommodate relatively new means of generation (such as renewable resources), and to accommodate new technology like smart meters. California, which has seen a series of catastrophic wildfires wipe out swaths of T&D infrastructure over the past decade, accounts for more than $1.65 billion in T&D projects under construction.
Southern California Edison Company, a subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE:EIX) (Rosemead, California), is at work on a $150 million transmission line rebuild from Hesperia, California, to Laughlin, Nevada, a 200-mile stretch that is partly located in an area the California Public Utilities Commission has categorized as "Tier 3," or in "extreme" danger of wildfire threats. Edison also is at work on a $561 million upgrade to its Mesa Substation in Montebello, just east of Los Angeles, which will increase the facility's size from 22 to 70 acres. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can read detailed project reports on the line rebuild and substation upgrade.
At 4.3 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), spending on electricity delivery across the U.S. was 65% higher in 2020 that it was a decade earlier, according to the EIA. Although highlighted by last year's pandemic-driven lockdowns, which drove demand for better broadband access as more Americans worked from home, this is part of a larger trend: Spending on U.S. electricity delivery increased every year from 1998 to 2020.
The higher U.S. T&D spending in 2021 has accompanied increased costs for power generation. Since pandemic-driven lockdowns largely ended across the U.S., demand for consumer goods and the energy needed to produce them have been outpacing supply, according to the EIA. The result is a spike in prices for fuels used by electric generators, especially natural gas, which have driven the cost of power production across the U.S. higher every month of this year when compared with the same months in 2020, according to the agency. However, power-production costs in 2020 were at their lowest in a decade.
Click on the image at right for an EIA graph detailing spending costs for major U.S. utilities from 2010 through 2020, adjusted for inflation.
In New York, Governor Kathleen Hochul recently said New York Power Authority's (NYPA) $535 million rebuild of a transmission line from Massena to Glenfield, which involves replacing about 76 miles of line between the Moses and Adirondack substations, is halfway complete. The rebuild is part of the Smart Path Project, which also covers $77 million in upgrades to the Adirondack Substation in Glenfield and a $57 million expansion of the Moses Switching Substation in Massena.
NYPA says the Smart Path Project will replace aging capacity, reduce the number of steel poles in the landscape, further heighten the lines from the ground, and make the lines more resilient to rough weather. NYPA also is replacing existing H-frame wooden structures--some of which are more than 80 years old, with single steel monopoles--according to NNY 360. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project reports on the first half and second half of the Massena-Glenfield line, the Adirondack upgrades and the Moses expansion.
Texas is facing its own Texas-sized demand for energy along the Houston Ship Channel, one of the world's busiest seaports and a top destination for developers in the Oil & Gas, Chemical Processing and Petroleum Refining industries. CenterPoint Energy Incorporated (NYSE:CNP) (Houston, Texas), a utility that services numerous states throughout the central and southern U.S., is developing its Freeport Master Plan Project to address the rapidly growing electricity needs in Freeport, a highly industrialized city at the heart of the area.
Major aspects of the Freeport Master Plan Project began construction in January, including a $204 million transmission line from Freeport to Wharton, which runs 48 miles from the existing Jones Creek Substation in Freeport to the new, $32.34 million Bailey Substation in Wharton. CenterPoint also is planning $10.4 million in upgrades to the Jones Creek Substation. All three components are set to wrap up in the spring of 2022. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project reports on the transmission line, Bailey Substation and Jones Creek upgrades.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.
Click on the image at right for a heat map of T&D projects under construction across the U.S., from Industrial Info's Geolocator tool.Not surprisingly, the most heavily populated areas have seen the highest demand for new T&D capacity to replace aging equipment, to accommodate relatively new means of generation (such as renewable resources), and to accommodate new technology like smart meters. California, which has seen a series of catastrophic wildfires wipe out swaths of T&D infrastructure over the past decade, accounts for more than $1.65 billion in T&D projects under construction.
Southern California Edison Company, a subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE:EIX) (Rosemead, California), is at work on a $150 million transmission line rebuild from Hesperia, California, to Laughlin, Nevada, a 200-mile stretch that is partly located in an area the California Public Utilities Commission has categorized as "Tier 3," or in "extreme" danger of wildfire threats. Edison also is at work on a $561 million upgrade to its Mesa Substation in Montebello, just east of Los Angeles, which will increase the facility's size from 22 to 70 acres. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can read detailed project reports on the line rebuild and substation upgrade.
At 4.3 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), spending on electricity delivery across the U.S. was 65% higher in 2020 that it was a decade earlier, according to the EIA. Although highlighted by last year's pandemic-driven lockdowns, which drove demand for better broadband access as more Americans worked from home, this is part of a larger trend: Spending on U.S. electricity delivery increased every year from 1998 to 2020.
The higher U.S. T&D spending in 2021 has accompanied increased costs for power generation. Since pandemic-driven lockdowns largely ended across the U.S., demand for consumer goods and the energy needed to produce them have been outpacing supply, according to the EIA. The result is a spike in prices for fuels used by electric generators, especially natural gas, which have driven the cost of power production across the U.S. higher every month of this year when compared with the same months in 2020, according to the agency. However, power-production costs in 2020 were at their lowest in a decade.
Click on the image at right for an EIA graph detailing spending costs for major U.S. utilities from 2010 through 2020, adjusted for inflation.In New York, Governor Kathleen Hochul recently said New York Power Authority's (NYPA) $535 million rebuild of a transmission line from Massena to Glenfield, which involves replacing about 76 miles of line between the Moses and Adirondack substations, is halfway complete. The rebuild is part of the Smart Path Project, which also covers $77 million in upgrades to the Adirondack Substation in Glenfield and a $57 million expansion of the Moses Switching Substation in Massena.
NYPA says the Smart Path Project will replace aging capacity, reduce the number of steel poles in the landscape, further heighten the lines from the ground, and make the lines more resilient to rough weather. NYPA also is replacing existing H-frame wooden structures--some of which are more than 80 years old, with single steel monopoles--according to NNY 360. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project reports on the first half and second half of the Massena-Glenfield line, the Adirondack upgrades and the Moses expansion.
Texas is facing its own Texas-sized demand for energy along the Houston Ship Channel, one of the world's busiest seaports and a top destination for developers in the Oil & Gas, Chemical Processing and Petroleum Refining industries. CenterPoint Energy Incorporated (NYSE:CNP) (Houston, Texas), a utility that services numerous states throughout the central and southern U.S., is developing its Freeport Master Plan Project to address the rapidly growing electricity needs in Freeport, a highly industrialized city at the heart of the area.
Major aspects of the Freeport Master Plan Project began construction in January, including a $204 million transmission line from Freeport to Wharton, which runs 48 miles from the existing Jones Creek Substation in Freeport to the new, $32.34 million Bailey Substation in Wharton. CenterPoint also is planning $10.4 million in upgrades to the Jones Creek Substation. All three components are set to wrap up in the spring of 2022. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project reports on the transmission line, Bailey Substation and Jones Creek upgrades.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.
