CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

New York State Electric and Gas is in the middle of a construction project in Tompkins and Cortland counties that will replace and upgrade aging utility poles and lines along a 15-mile strip. Work is expected to be completed by the middle of this year.

The contractor, Harlan Electric, has been using cranes and helicopters to erect new poles and string lines substantially taller than the existing ones, to increase capacity and reduce the Ithaca area's heavy reliance on electricity from the AES Cayuga power plant on Cayuga Lake in Lansing.

The rebuilt lines will stretch along the existing path from a switching station in Lapeer, along Route 38 south of Dryden, to the Etna Substation across from NYSEG's regional office building on Route 13.

Both the Lapeer switching station and the Etna Substation are also being rebuilt to accommodate the new transmission line, according to NYSEG spokesman Clayton Ellis.

NYSEG is complying with a state order to increase the reliability of electricity in areas where most electricity comes from a local plant.

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