CURRENT PROJECTS
MODERNIZATION OF BELMONT’S ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION INFRASTRUCTURE UNDERWAY
The transformation of Belmont’s electric delivery system from an unreliable, decaying, even dangerous system to a state-of-the-art system that will serve the town for years to come has been plotted out over three steps.
The first step was to the construction of a new 60 MW substation at Blair Pond and a new 115 kV transmission line from Alewife. Completed in December 2016, this project allowed Belmont Light to avoid an impending crisis by significantly increasing the electricity capacity and power quality for the Town of Belmont.
The second step was to cut over the incoming power supply from a system with numerous lines to the new system fed over the 115 kV transmission line into the new Blair Pond Substation. In order to accomplish this cut over, Belmont Light conducted a series of planned power outages for all customers over 4 separate nights. The resulting system left the Blair Pond Substation still feeding the 3 existing substations (Concord Ave., Oakley Rd., Hittinger St.) and the distribution cables powering homes, business, and other buildings remained old and decaying.
The third and final step to creating the next generation’s most cost effective and efficient distribution system for Belmont consumers is the completion of a 10-year plan, which has been termed “Project C”, to upgrade and modernize the town-wide distribution system and decommission the town’s three older substations which will be rendered obsolete.
The upgrade and modernization of Belmont’s current distribution infrastructure to higher 13.8 kV circuits includes replacing wire, transformers, utility poles, and other equipment as needed. Completion of Phase One of this project will allow the town to decommission the substation at 450 Concord Avenue and the completion of Phase Two will result in the decommissioning of the substations at Oakley Road and Hittinger Street.
Status: Ongoing
UPDATE – January 2022
In calendar year 2021 we converted approximately 1.5MVA of connected load in the Town. Parts include Snake Hill Road, Hay Road, Centre Ave, Portions of Concord Avenue, Brighton Street, Flanders Road, Church Street, Trapelo Road, and Thayer Street.
The existing switchgear behind Station 3 (Hittinger Street) has also been retired and replaced with a new pad mount switchgear. This new switchgear now acts as a protective device for a large industrial customer and will ultimately protect the mainline of the Baker Street area where conversion make ready work is presently in progress and slated for completion in 2022.
The new High School permanent service has been energized which entailed the installation of a perimeter MH and duct system and approximately 3000 circuit feet of underground cable along with the installation of (2) transformers and other associated equipment. During this project, other provisions have also been added to allow for future access and conversion of Channing Road.