Wow, count all of those suspension insulators! Heavy duty 115kv double-circuit transmission lines run along the I-95 Corridor and this one is among the six points where the six New England states (ISO-NE) has transmission ties outside of this region as you can see here. Those high voltage lines extend along the upper structures in this image. Electricity is traded 24/7/365 back-and-forth within these points to outside of the ISO-NE region along lines up to 345kv in New England to constanty meet demand, especially when generation within the region falls short, particularly during temperature extremes in summer and winter. Yup, costs of imported electricity during these very high usage periods can be very expensive! Import/export lines are owned by transmission companies and at least a portion of this interconnect of ISO-NE (Independent Service Operator, New England) line is maintained/owned by Northeast Utilities as it heads towards ISO-NY to a large Consolidated Edison Company switchyard/substation not far from the NY/CT border. As a jorneyman meterman, measuring electricity between major points like this is a very exciting aspect of electric utility metering! It is the best within this field! The elite of electricity metermen and engineers get to work with this kind of interconnection stuff (no, that does not include me, yet ;-O) which mostly is electronic and computer-interface software. BTW if your electric bill details and individually separates your energy cost delivery, then your cost of transmission services are attributable to getting the electrons from generation sources via transmission (based proportionally upon your kwh usage) to your regional distribution (which will be another line-item with your bill).

Thanks to Kathleen McLaughlin for sending along this image. Update: And a tip-o-the-hat to Stephan Jones for some revised information that just got added ;-)

Electricity Transmission 101. You will be quizzed later. Class dismissed!

JOE

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