Operations and Maintenance
Protecting the transmission system 24/7
The New York Power Authority protects New Yorkers by managing the electric power grid throughout its life cycle. This means ensuring regular repairs and improvements as transmission infrastructure ages. NYPA employees bring their expertise in advanced transmission technology, design, construction, operations, and maintenance to tackle and resolve issues promptly and efficiently. NYPA employees are your family, friends, and neighbors, and they work hard to maintain and protect the transmission system New Yorkers rely on every day.
Transmission Right-of-Way Vegetation Management Program
NYPA has a system wide Long-Range Transmission Right-of-Way (ROW) Vegetation Management Plan and Program to ensure the physical integrity of its transmission lines and support structures through a program of regular preventive maintenance. It is designed to support the safe and reliable transmission of electric power in an economically, environmentally, and sustainable sound manner. The process of Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) is employed to ensure that tall-growing trees and woody shrubs do not interfere with these critically important electric power transmission facilities.
IVM controls the growth of undesirable species while at the same time promoting desirable low-growing plant species such as shrubs, herbs, grasses, forbs, and ferns, which enhance wildlife and pollinator habitat.
NYPA is recognized as a "Right-of-Way Steward Utility" through the accreditation program of the Right-of-Way Stewardship Council. More information can be found on the
ROW Stewardship Council website.
Herbicide Notification
Vegetation on NYPA’s Rights of Way is controlled by a variety of methods. Research has shown that the lowest cost, long-term control is accomplished through the judicious use of herbicides, either alone or in a combination of mixtures. The objective is the creation of a stable right-of-way plant community which minimizes the need for future maintenance.
Herbicides are used either alone or in combination. All herbicide application methods are used in accordance with label instructions:
Transmission Environmental Stewardship
NYPA works to be a good neighbor in the communities surrounding its facilities and transmission lines, and that means being engaged in environmental protection and restoration. NYPA’s planning and projects reflect that commitment, and NYPA experts regularly engage in habitat and wildlife planning and restoration.
In addition to the work in and near NYPA facilities, the NYPA vegetation management program maintains approximately 24,000 acres of right-of-way (ROW) along the paths of our power lines. The program's principal goal is to provide safe and reliable transmission of electric power in an economically and environmentally compatible manner.
The vegetation management strategy that has been adopted by NYPA is known as integrated vegetation management (IVM). IVM recognizes the full range of financial and societal impacts of ROW management. This approach emphasizes the highly selective use of herbicides to completely remove all tall-growing target species of vegetation from the ROW environs, while simultaneously preserving all other low-growing desirable vegetation.
IVM maintains a biodiverse ecosystem, promotes pollinator habitat, establishes an early successional plant community, controls invasive plant species, and preserves cultural resources. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI A300 Part 7) defines IVM as “a system of managing plant communities in which compatible and incompatible vegetation are identified: control methods are evaluated, selected, and applied to achieve management goals and maintenance objectives.” This is a long-term process tailored to the species being managed, existing site conditions, and intended outcomes. NYPA’s vegetation management practices utilizing IVM include economic viability, environmental stewardship, and social sustainability.
What it takes: Maintaining Low Growing Vegetation
Vegetation management NYPA vegetation experts review plans before continuing operations.
Environmental Stewardship in Action...
NYPA's Lewis Payne: Managing Thriving Ecosystems
Wood Pole Inspection and Treatment Program
NYPA operates and maintains a 1,400+ mile statewide transmission and distribution system that includes nearly 7,000 wood utility poles that operate from 2,400 to 345,000 volts.
The wood pole inspection and treatment program helps to ensure that the reliability of the system is maintained by closely monitoring the life cycle of the wood poles, as well as preventing premature failure by applying the latest inspection, treatment, and repair techniques.
Maximizing the life of wood utility poles is performed in a multi-step process that includes the development of demanding purchasing specifications followed by a comprehensive inspection, testing, and treatment program.
Coupled with NYPA’s Integrated Vegetation Management program, which is recognized as a "Right-of-Way Steward Utility" through the accreditation program of the Right-of-Way Stewardship Council, the wood pole treatment and inspection program is geared to minimize the environmental impact and disturbance to local land owners.
Treatments are used either alone or in combination based on utility industry best practices.
All treatment application methods are used in accordance with label instructions.
For more information, contact NYPA’s Wood Pole and Inspection Program at: WoodPoles@nypa.gov