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Power Substation Removal Makes a Visible Difference on Branford's Meadow Street

A new view emerged in town this week, as the final parts of the steel structure were taken away at the site of a long-serving Eversource Energy CT power substation on Meadow Street in Branford.

The substation has been out of commission since the summer, when dismantling began to remove equipment and infrastructure. Earlier this week, the last of the steel came down and was hauled away, leaving a concrete pad and foundation fittings. The final work to be done now is site restoration work, Eversource spokesman Frank Poirot told Zip06/The Sound on Jan. 3.

Poirot said removal of the Meadow Street substation is part of a bigger project to improve system resiliency and reliability of service to customers in Branford. The improvements increase the power company's ability to withstand the likes of storms and heavy winds while still serving customers.

Located beside the Amtrak line and a stone's throw from Stony Creek Brewery (5 Indian Neck Ave.) on the Branford River and The Eel Pot Restaurant (95 Meadow St.); the small parcel is also within walking distance of the Branford rail station. Most notably, the Meadow Street substation's location sat just beyond the Amtrak underpass (Indian Neck Ave. to Meadow Street), which has become evermore prone to flooding during extreme high tide/storm incidents.

"Given that substation's proximity to those tidal [areas] and Long Island Sound itself, the benefit of removing that substation was that it may have been a little bit vulnerable to storm flooding," said Poirot. "So we transferred the load -- that is, the demand for electricity -- from our customers in the area to other substations in the area."

The load transfers included pumping up Branford's Route 1 substation as well as others.

"We operate an integrated grid, and actually it could be a substation in Guilford that's serving the load on that side of town [in Branford]," Poirot explained. "It's distributed elsewhere, and before that was done, those substations were beefed up. It was done as part of a package of improvements to our system in the town."

Once site restoration work is completed at the former Meadow Street substation site, the small piece of property, which abuts a parking lot, could be offered for sale; possibly to the Town of Branford. At this point in time, the company has yet to determine what the disposition for that parcel of land will be, said Poirot.