A line meant to bring hydropower from Canada to New York City has been out of service for 10 days with no end in sight as another heat wave sets in.
The Champlain Hudson Power Express, a project that runs more than 300 miles below land and bodies of water from Québec to Astoria, can carry up to 1,250 megawatts of electricity generated from dams. At its full potential, the line could power about a million homes in the city and meet about a fifth of its energy needs.
After going down for a day starting on July 1 — the first day of its contract to deliver energy to New York and amid an earlier heat wave — the project encountered a problem on July 4 and has been out of commission ever since.
“Teams working around the clock have identified a cable issue at a location on the U.S. portion of the transmission line,” Pete Rose, director of stakeholder relations at Hydro-Québec, which runs the line, said in a statement.
Rose did not have a timeline for repair and did not disclose the exact location of the cable problem.
The July 1 interruption happened during a heat wave when a tech issue tripped a converter in Québec. The issue was resolved around midday the following day, just as temperatures were peaking, and the line provided much-needed power to city dwellers cranking their air conditioners.
According to the contract with New York, the $8 billion Champlain Hudson Power Express can be called on when the system needs energy the most — like during heat waves — and must provide a certain amount of energy annually.
Power from the line would ease some concerns about tight margins during times of high electricity demand. Energy flowing from the Champlain Hudson Power Express was also meant to lower electricity prices because it would provide more supply. Power is more expensive as demand rises.
And during heat waves, power is also dirty. Currently, fossil fuels generate most of the city’s electricity and in-city gas-fired peaker plants run when demand is highest, worsening air quality locally.
“We understand the critical nature of this,” Rose told The City Reporter. “That’s why we’re working so hard.”
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