Avangrid Investing $41 Million to Rebuild NY Grid Infrastructure

Avangrid said it would invest $41 million across five projects in New York State to improve the capacity and reliability of the regional power grid. The company, a member of the Iberdrola Group, said the funding for the grid around Ithaca, New York, builds on Avangrid’s effort to modernize New York’s electrical and gas infrastructure. Investments over the past few years have reached more than $500 million for 265 projects after initiating the 2023 Reliable Energy Rate Plan.

Avangrid on May 22 said it will continue this investment with $20 billion in funding through 2030 to rebuild and strengthen critical infrastructure in all its service areas in the U.S. Northeast.

“Avangrid’s $41-million investment in Ithaca is a crucial step in our ongoing commitment to modernize and strengthen New York’s aging energy infrastructure,” said CEO Pedro Azagra. “Through our larger $20 billion investment through 2030, Avangrid will help ensure communities across New York and the United States have the reliable and resilient energy needed to grow and prosper.”

“Continued investment into the modernization of New York’s grid is not only a top priority at NYSEG & RGE but it is also part of our core mission to provide reliable energy to our customers,” said Patricia Nilsen, president and CEO of NYSEG and Rochester Gas and Electric. “The $41-million investment in Ithaca will enhance the reliability of electricity in the region and will also increase the capacity of the grid in the area, allowing for future growth of communities and businesses.”

In total, these projects in Ithaca will benefit more than 42,000 New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) customers in the Ithaca region by adding additional capacity and reliability to the grid. Reliability improvements will strengthen the resilience of the system, leading to fewer and shorter duration outages.

Phase I of Ithaca’s investment will focus on current reliability needs in the region and is on schedule to be completed by the end of 2027. These projects include:

• $300,000 in upgrades to transformers at the Coddington substation.
• $28.4 million for purchase and installation of two new transformers at the Fourth Street substation.
• $4.2 million for purchase and installation of a capacity bank at the Trumansburg substation.
• $3.3 million for purchase and installation of a capacity bank at the Cayuga Heights substation.
• $4.9 million for purchase and installation of a capacity bank at the West Hill substation.

Increased capacity will encourage growth in the region and provide more energy to power additional homes and new and growing businesses. In total, these projects will create more than 150 jobs.

The transformers included in these projects will play a key role in the substation upgrades. Their function is to step down the voltage to transmission, sub-transmission, and distribution voltages to ensure the safe and economic supply of electricity. Having new and upgraded transformers makes the stations more resilient to power outages. It also increases the energy capacity for future demand in the area.

Capacitors banks help ensure consistent energy into the grid, helping improve the reliability for customers in the area. They do this by stabilizing and maintaining voltage levels, which improves overall efficiency and performance of the power grid.

Since 2023, Avangrid’s electric and gas utilities in New York—NYSEG and RGE—have invested $582 million in 265 projects across the state. These projects have rebuilt critical gas and electrical infrastructure across the companies service territories that provide safe and reliable energy to 2.9-million customers in New York.

In March 2025, Avangrid announced its plan to invest $20 billion in U.S. electrical grid infrastructure through the end of the decade. The plan reflects the critical need to invest in energy infrastructure to meet growing demand, as well as continuing to make the U.S. a top investment priority for Avangrid and Iberdrola.

—POWER edited this content, which was contributed by Avangrid, a member of the Iberdrola Group.