New Duquesne Light substation expected boost Pittsburgh’s power grid resiliency
ALL RIGHT, BRIAN, THANK YOU. NEW AT NOON, DUQUESNE LIGHT ANNOUNCED A BIG PROJECT AIMED AT IMPROVING SERVICE MOVING FORWARD. PITTSBURGH’S ACTION NEWS FOUR REPORTER MARCI CIPRIANI IS JOINING US LIVE NEAR THE BIRMINGHAM BRIDGE. AND MARCI, THERE MIGHT BE SOME MINOR HEADACHES FOR CUSTOMERS ALONG THE WAY HERE. WELL, ELENA, OFFICIALS WITH DUQUESNE LIGHT TELL ME THEY’RE REALLY HOPING PEOPLE DON’T EVEN NOTICE, BUT THEY DO WANT PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA TO BE PREPARED WHEN THEY TRANSFER POWER. HERE, TAKE A LOOK. THIS IS DUQUESNE HEIGHTS NEW SUBSTATION. IT IS CALLED THE WATSON SUBSTATION. AND OFFICIALS SAY IT WILL ENHANCE RESILIENCY OF THE DOWNTOWN GRID. IT HAS BEEN IN THE WORKS SINCE 2017, AND OFFICIALS AT DUQUESNE LIGHT SAY WHEN IT IS ONLINE, IT WILL BE AN ADDITIONAL SUBSTATION. THERE ARE TWO ALREADY SERVING DOWNTOWN THAT WILL, IN THE EVENT OF A POWER OUTAGE, HELP RESTORE POWER MORE QUICKLY. BUT WHEN THEY BRING THIS SUBSTATION ONLINE, THOSE IMPACTED COULD FACE AN OUTAGE. THAT TIME, THOUGH, IS SCHEDULED. THE CUTOVER ARE SCHEDULED FOR THE EVENING OF THE 28TH AND 29TH, GOING TO BE LATER IN THE EVENING, PROBABLY BETWEEN 8 AND 12:08 P.M. AND 12 MIDNIGHT. OUR INTENTION IS TO LIMIT THE DISTURBANCES AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO THE CUSTOMERS THAT WOULD BE IMPACTED IN THE AREAS DOWNTOWN. IDEALLY, WE’RE GOING TO TRY OUR BEST TO HAVE NO OUTAGES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS. OFFICIALS SAY IF YOU ARE IMPACTED ON THE 28TH, YOU WILL NOT BE IMPACTED ON THE 29TH. ANYONE WHO SEES THE POWER OUTAGE BECAUSE OF THE TRANSFER OF POWER TO THIS SUBSTATION WILL ONLY SEE IT ON ONE OF THOSE DAYS, AND THEY’RE ACTUALLY ANTICIPATING IT RIGHT AROUND 10 P.M. NOW, IN ADDITION TO THE OUTAGE, IF YOU DON’T LIVE OR WORK DOWNTOWN, BUT YOU HAVE TO BE MOVING THROUGH, THEY SAY THERE COULD BE SOME TRAFFIC LIGHTS OUT AND YOU COULD SEE SOME ROAD CLOSURES. SO THAT DUQUESNE LIGHT CREWS CAN BE NEAR THOSE MANHOLES IN CASE THEY NEED TO ACCESS THEM. SO WE WILL HAVE A FULL LIST ON THE AREAS IMPACTED COMING UP ON OUR NEWS BEGINNING AT 4:00 FOR NOW, COVERING ALLEGHEN
New Duquesne Light substation expected boost Pittsburgh’s power grid resiliency
Updated: 1:14 PM EDT Oct 16, 2025
Duquesne Light has announced a major project to enhance the resiliency of downtown Pittsburgh’s power grid with the new Watson substation.The substation has been in development since 2017. Officials from Duquesne Light said the substation will serve as an additional resource alongside the two existing substations and will help restore power more quickly in the event of an outage. However, during the activation process, some customers may experience scheduled outages.”The cut overs are scheduled for the evening of (October) 28 and 29, are going to be later in the evening, probably between 8 and 12 — 8 p.m. and 12, midnight. Our intention is to limit the disturbances as much as possible to the customers that would be impacted in the areas downtown, ideally, where we’re going to try our best to have no outages associated with this.” Jason Keller, director of operations center, said.
PITTSBURGH —
Duquesne Light has announced a major project to enhance the resiliency of downtown Pittsburgh’s power grid with the new Watson substation.
The substation has been in development since 2017.
Officials from Duquesne Light said the substation will serve as an additional resource alongside the two existing substations and will help restore power more quickly in the event of an outage.
However, during the activation process, some customers may experience scheduled outages.
“The cut overs are scheduled for the evening of (October) 28 and 29, are going to be later in the evening, probably between 8 and 12 — 8 p.m. and 12, midnight. Our intention is to limit the disturbances as much as possible to the customers that would be impacted in the areas downtown, ideally, where we’re going to try our best to have no outages associated with this.” Jason Keller, director of operations center, said.