Upgrade for NYC Power Infrastructure

In response to concerns about the stability of the New York City power grid, Consolidated Edison, Inc. and American Superconductor Corporation will install a superconducting power line under midtown New York that should equip the grid to withstand stress from extreme weather or terrorist attacks. The Department of Homeland Security will fund up to $25 million for the nearly $40 million superconductor cable it calls "Project Hydra."

The cable will link two substations in Manhattan, and be completed sometime in 2010. The department said the project could lead to further deployment of the technology which also suppresses power surges. A power outage in Queens, New York last summer, and the August 2003 blackout that hit parts of the U.S. Northeast, Canada and the Midwest, have raised concerns about power delivery in New York's financial district and the data centers that support their mission-critical trading applications and data storage.