I almost could not leave my house Wednesday morning because a giant backhoe courtesy of Con Edison, was breaking the sidewalk in front of the gate. After informing the construction guys that I had nowhere else to exit, they held my backpack and helped me jump over my fence, something Trump would probably frown upon. When I safely made it over, I inquired why they did not leave a notice about the work they were doing and why they were digging. As Olha’s LWT presentation showed us, companies are always digging up the ground and no one knows why. The construction workers said they thought everyone left the house already so they began installing a new transmission feeder pipe. They also said to visit the Con Edison website if I had any more questions. So I did.
The large steel apparatus and asphalt covers the giant hole in the ground, which allows people to walk on the sidewalk during off peak construction hours.
Surprisingly, Con Edison is one of the good guys who detail their plans online. It turns out that the company is investing about $42 million to upgrade 7,500 feet of transmission feeder pipe and is continuing the installation of a new underground transmission line in Queens. These more resilient pipes have phase angle regulators to adjust power flow, are less prone to causing blackouts, and use natural gas instead of oil. Other sustainable initiatives include using smart meters, which Isaac mentioned in his NYC Gallery Post and giving incentives to customers who switch to more energy efficient methods like Smart AC/Room AC, solar panels, or natural gas.
It is relieving to see large companies like Con Edison engaging in more energy efficient and renewable power to shrink their carbon footprint, even at an inconvenience to others. If they are trying to do their part, we should do ours by taking individual measures that when added together, become collective action. Together, our combined reduction in carbon emissions will have the same effect as other large companies reducing their carbon emissions.
