NYSEG and RG&E’s Betterments Program Laser Focused on Grid Reliability
Program encourages staff at Company divisions to share ideas to improve reliability
Program strengthens grid throughout New York State
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — June 17, 2025 — New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) continue to prioritize the reliability of their grid to meet the energy needs of the nearly four million people they serve across Upstate New York. One of the many ways the Companies strengthen the grid is through their Betterments Program, an initiative that works nimbly to improve grid reliability, operability, and flexibility.
“Ensuring energy reliability is at the forefront of what we do,” said Robert McDonough, senior manager of regional operations at NYSEG and RG&E. “Customers want uninterrupted power, which is why we prioritize projects through our Betterments Program to reduce the number of outages. While we have invested more than $500 million in major projects since 2023, this program allows us to make tactical adjustments to our infrastructure that can have a significant impact on the customers we serve.”
The Betterments Program encourages each of the Company’s seventeen divisional operations, planning, and other groups to submit ideas which improve reliability at the local level. Ideas include relocating poles that are fixed in heavily wooded areas, moving transmission and distribution lines that result in easier maintenance, reconfiguring the energy load on a circuit, enhanced or tactical tree trimming, and other alternatives. The local groups leverage their knowledge about the real issues and challenges faced by the system to improve overall effectiveness of the grid in their communities.
The Companies have so far identified 20 projects throughout New York State through the Betterments Program. Projects include a nearly $2 million circuit upgrade in the Mechanicville division, which impacts more than 4,800 customers, a $1.4 million circuit relocation in Hornell which impacts nearly 400 customers, a $1.9 million circuit relocation in Harpursville to benefit 690 customers, a $1.2 million upgrade to circuits in Clarence to benefit more than 7,000 customers, $1.9 million in circuit work and pole replacement in Canandaigua which serves more than 1,000 customers, and more.
Submitted ideas are prioritized by their benefit to the grid as well as historic outage frequency. NYSEG and RG&E utilize metrics that include cost-per-customer and compare to competing projects that prioritize the projects that may have the greatest positive impact to service.
Media Contact:
Michael Baggerman