Proposed Montauk electrical substation gets a new location

PSEG Long Island will return to its original plan for a substation in Montauk by locating the facility next to a recently installed giant storage battery on Shore Road just south of Fort Pond Bay.

The move came after the publicized plans for another proposed site in Hither Woods on county parkland drew complaints from hikers. PSEG also this spring withdrew plans for a controversial site on a hilltop on Flamingo Avenue after neighbors and others protested.

In a statement released Tuesday, East Hampton Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said he told PSEG officials the Hither Woods site, near an East Hampton town landfill, was “unsuitable.” He said he secured an agreement with the utility to locate the substation in an “industrial” area on Shore Road.

The substation is currently situated on a parcel of land that juts out onto Fort Pond. PSEG wants to upgrade and fortify the new substation for higher power and on higher ground. It’s part of a $513 million plan to fortify the South Fork grid, which will also see demand-reduction measures, two storage batteries and a wind-farm that will send energy to an East Hampton substation farther west.

PSEG spokeswoman Elizabeth Flagler confirmed the utility worked with the town and officials “listened to the concerns of the community and is pleased to have found an agreed-upon location that will support the energy requirements of Montauk.” 

Van Scoyoc said PSEG told him it will raise the Shore Road substation site, which LIPA owns, as well as the road, and build new drainage to accommodate the facility, which steps down high voltage electricity from plants to lower voltages for use in homes.

The existing substation on Fort Pond, the town said, “will be dismantled,” allowing for “community use." 

With Vera Chinese

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.