The Frederick R. Clark
Energy Center

The New York Power Authority owns and maintains an "energy highway" of more than 1,400 circuit-miles of high voltage transmission lines. Our power lines are part of a statewide network that transports electricity instantaneously to meet consumer demand.

The hub of our power transmission facilities—coordinating electricity flow from the Power Authority's 18 power projects and from external sources, including Canada—is the Frederick R. Clark Energy Center, near Utica.

Opened in 1980, the site includes our Energy Control Center (ECC), where we monitor Power Authority facilities statewide and dispatch electricity from our generating projects around the clock.

Every six seconds, we exchange information with the New York Independent System Operator (ISO) and the other transmission owners in New York. The NYISO, working with the transmission owners, is responsible for the reliability of power throughout the state.

The ECC provides load and generation data to the NYISO's Market Information System, which provides a statewide market for the sale and purchase of electricity. The ECC also accounts for NYPA's energy sales and purchases to the NYISO's market and our customers.

Our dispatchers take pride in staying on top of the roller coaster of changing demand. At the Power Authority's ECC, our goal is to lower energy costs to New York State consumers by insuring system reliability and providing dependable and secure transmission service.

The 85-acre substation also located here is one of the state’s largest. It is maintained by more than 100 engineers, technicians, electricians, mechanics, linemen and administrative staffers and serves as the terminal for the state's highest-voltage transmission line, the Power Authority's 765-kilovolt (kv) line from the Canadian border. This 155-mile line carries cheap hydropower from Quebec to Central New York, where it is then rerouted to the downstate area or wherever it is needed most.

Power generally flows downstate on three outgoing 345-kv lines, including one of our newest, the 200-mile Marcy-South line, which ends at East Fishkill in Dutchess County.

The substation is home to the Convertible Static Compensator (CSC)—a device which increases the capacity on the heavily used transmission lines. Completed in July 2004, CSC permits total increases of 100 megawatts on the Utica-Albany lines and 192 megawatts—enough to serve about 192,000 homes—statewide.

High wire training at Clark
Linemen maintain all the transmission towers and lines at Clark. Among their many talents, these high-altitude acrobats use "hotsticks"—fiberglass poles up to 28 feet long—to repair live power lines suspended high above the ground—without disrupting service!

Linemen throughout the Power Authority come to Clark’s training center to learn how to balance on tower beams, repair cable 50 feet off the ground and perform up to 60 hotstick techniques.

Our 10-acre training site has 18 different poles, simulating transmission towers, for linemen to practice climbing, hotstick techniques and rescues. Although injuries are rare at the Power Authority—we observe strict safety standards—our linemen are taught lifesaving techniques and practice lowering each other to safety.

Being a Good Neighbor
The Clark Energy Center is an important part of NYPA’s transmission network, and the surrounding community is important to us as well. Throughout the years, NYPA has worked with local organizations to support a variety of programs and activities that benefit Central New York. Check our web calendar for upcoming community events.

News:

January 14, 2008 - NYPA Plans Energy Program for New Hartford School

December 17, 2007 - NYPA Assists Auburn With Use of Clean Renewable Energy Source to Heat and Cool Municipal Buildings

September 17, 2007 - New York Power Authority Sponsors Energy Reduction Meetings at Senior Citizen Centers

September 17, 2007 - New York Power Authority Wildlife Festival Set for September 22 (in Deerfield, N.Y.)

August 21, 2007 - New York Power Authority Sponsors Energy Reduction Meetings at Senior Citizens Centers

August 15, 2007 - New York Power Authority to Participate in Betsy the Barge Concert

Highlights:

July 6, 2007 - NYPA Employee, a Utica Resident, Wins National Poster Contest

July 5, 2007  - Photo and Caption: Employees at NYPA's Clark Energy Center, Marcy, Celebrate Milestones

August 15, 2006 - New General Manager at Power Authority's Frederick R. Clark Energy Center in Marcy

September 9, 2005 - N.Y. Power Authority Marks 25th Anniversary of Frederick R. Clark Energy Center

Read Mohawk Valley News, our community newsletter covering NYPA activities in the region near our Clark Energy Center.