National Grid protecting Buffalo substations from blizzards - Buffalo News

National Grid protecting Buffalo substations from blizzards

During the deadly Blizzard of 2022, as blinding snow and hurricane-force gusts pummeled Western New York over three days, more than 108,000 households and businesses serviced by National Grid lost power.

The majority of those power outages were caused by downed lines, damaged poles and fallen trees – all common problems in a major winter storm.

National Grid: Substations that failed during blizzard were not designed to withstand extreme cold and snow

National Grid revealed this week that its four substations that shut down during the historic blizzard that paralyzed Western New York in December, causing thousands to lose power, were designed to hold up against the worst of summer weather, but not unprecedented and extreme cold weather conditions.

In Buffalo, about 20,000 National Grid customers had no electricity, and a little over half of those power outages were caused by a problem National Grid had never experienced:

The strong, unyielding winds pushed snow into three substations in the city, encasing the transformer bays inside with heavy snow. That caused them to shut off – essentially like tripping a circuit breaker in your home. A fourth substation was tripped off because it shared cables with one of the other substations that had been snowed in.

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“I’ve been with National Grid for over 30 years,” National Grid Regional Director Ken Kujawa said. “We’ve never seen that before.”

National Grid says it has a plan in place to make sure that doesn’t happen again – and it comes none too soon as forecasters have begun keeping an eye on a weather system that could bring significant snow to the region next week.

“People say that was a once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-generation blizzard,” Kujawa said. “For us, we can’t take a chance that that was the only time we’re going to see it. We have to prepare as if we’re going to see a storm like that at some point in time in the future.”

On Thursday, Kujawa showed The Buffalo News the work that is being done at one of the substations that was snowed in last year.

Buffalo is serviced by 43 substations, Kujawa explained. A network of underground cables deliver power to the substations which then feed electricity through wires strung across the city.

Eight of the Buffalo substations are rectangular, roofed buildings have three brick walls and a fourth wall that is essentially a fence. The fenced wall allows air to flow through, keeping the transformer bays cool – a critical feature for warmer weather.

But at three of the substations, that fenced wall was no match for the blizzard.

“As the snow blew through and hit the back wall, it didn’t have any way to pass through,” Kujawa said, in front of a substation on East Delavan Avenue. “So the snow started accumulating just like you would see a snowdrift at your house. And because the amount of snow became so great, our equipment started to trip off line.”

Photos taken amid the blizzard show pieces of equipment covered in mounds of snow.
Snow and ice accumulated on National Grid electrical equipment in this substation on Elk Street during the December 2022 blizzard in Buffalo. The substations were not designed to withstand so severe a storm, according to Niagara Grid.

The power couldn’t be turned back on at those substations until workers could get inside. First, National Grid reached out the City of Buffalo to plow the streets near the substations. Utility crews then dug their way to the buildings. One of the substations had a snow drift that was more than 12 feet high.

Once the workers got inside, they came up with a plan to put up tarps and “torpedo” heaters to melt the snow away. The tarps helped trap the heat inside. Then, crews could begin the process of getting the power flowing again.

Electricity began to be restored overnight on Christmas Eve and through Christmas Day until about 9 p.m. for the customers affected by the substation problems. Others waited days more as electrical crews fixed downed lines and poles, one at a time.

With tens of thousands of people having spent the holiday weekend shivering and in the dark, and at least 10 deaths regionwide of people who died in homes that lost power, National Grid came under fire for the mass power failure.

The utility has a two-pronged plan now. As an immediate measure, all eight of the substations are equipped with tarps and heaters – which National Grid is calling “blizzard kits.” If there’s a blizzard in the forecast, station workers would hang up the tarps ahead of time to help keep snow out and the heaters would be ready to be used to melt anything that got in, Kujawa said.

As a more permanent fix, National Grid is in the midst of installing “louvers” – which are like blinds – to the eight substations. The louvers are made of steel slats at fixed angles of 45 degrees with a fence with small hole behind them. Extra venting was installed to keep air circulating.
The louver system is intended to prevent snow from blowing into the substations. The storm preparation measures are still underway at this substation, but are expected to be completed by next week.

At the East Delavan substation, work is nearly complete. Three of the four transformer bays have the new louvers in place. A fourth, which has the old fencing material, should be replaced by a louver by next week, Kujawa said. One other substation on the East Side of Buffalo has been fully renovated. One in South Buffalo is being worked on this week and next. Kujawa said the work will continue through early 2024.

If a blizzard were to hit next week, Kujawa said, the station workers where the louvers aren’t in place are prepared to get the tarps up. He also said National Grid has a system set up with both the city and Erie County on providing them with the locations of where they need plowing so that they can do their work.

“If the forecast is for 3 inches of snow, we’ll be fine, or 6 inches of snow,” Kujawa said. That’s never been an issue for the substations. “But if we get 80 mph winds two days straight with snow during that entire time, that’s when we obviously have to be on guard and make sure that our system is in the best position possible to withstand those elements.”