Press Releases
10/09/2025
Avangrid Boosts Energy Reliability with 24,000 Utility Pole Replacements this Year Across Northeast
Avangrid Boosts Energy Reliability with 24,000 Utility Pole Replacements this Year Across Northeast
Avangrid Subsidiaries New York Electric & Gas, Rochester Gas & Electric, Central Maine Power and United Illuminating Continue to Invest in Upgrading Critical Infrastructure
ORANGE, CT. — October 9, 2025 — Avangrid, Inc., a leading energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, today announced its subsidiary utility companies New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E), Central Maine Power (CMP) and United Illuminating (UI) have replaced over 24,000 utility poles so far in 2025. Pole replacements are vital for ensuring energy reliability to approximately 3.4 million customers across New York and New England.
“Replacing more than 24,000 utility poles so far this year is a clear demonstration of Avangrid’s commitment to strengthening the grid and delivering reliable energy to the communities we serve,” said Avangrid CEO Jose Antonio Miranda. “With thousands more replacements planned and ongoing investments in modernizing electrical infrastructure, we’re building a smarter, more resilient grid to meet growing demand and ensure our customers have access to the energy they need.”
Many Avangrid subsidiary utility poles across the Northeast are decades old, making the grid more vulnerable to storm damage and outages. Replacing these aging poles is critical to improving extreme weather resiliency and energy reliability for Avangrid’s 3.4 million customers, including homes, businesses, and essential services. And as energy demand continues to rise, upgrading grid infrastructure is fundamental for meeting the energy needs of the future.
NYSEG and RG&E have replaced approximately 14,000 poles across upstate New York and expect to complete 20,000 by the end of the year. The scale of future pole work will be determined by NYSEG and RG&E’s Powering New York rate proposal that was filed this year with the New York State Department of Public Service. This plan aims to modernize infrastructure so that customers see improved reliability, efficiency, and resiliency in an era of more extreme weather. It also includes state requirements for new utility poles, which will support broadband internet upgrades. The proposal is currently under review by state regulators.
NYSEG and RG&E combined have more than one million utility poles across New York State, which are inspected every five years in a cycle approach. These inspections include views from the ground and a stray voltage test. There is also a separate inspection program which has examined an additional 57,000 poles this year. This program tests the strength of the pole by excavating around it to determine ground rot, taking pole measurements, and calculating the pole’s remaining strength. The Companies will also physically drill into the pole to identify voids.
Central Maine Power (CMP) has replaced approximately 9,500 poles across Maine so far this year and expects to complete more than 11,000 replacements total by the end of 2025. CMP also expects to have inspected 144,000 of its poles by the end of the year and future pole work will be determined by the company’s Investing in Maine’s Future Plan that was proposed to the Maine PUC in September 2025. CMP has more than 665,000 utility poles across its system.
United Illuminating (UI) has replaced 500 poles across Connecticut so far this year and expects to complete around 700 by the end of 2025.
With more than 10.5 gigawatts (GW) of generation capacity, Avangrid continues to expand its energy portfolio investing heavily in U.S. energy infrastructure. The Company continues to invest in grid modernization to meet surging demand and enhance system resilience, reinforcing its role as a leader in America’s energy future.
About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. is a leading energy company in the United States working to meet the growing demand for energy for homes and businesses across the nation through service, innovation, and continued investments by expanding grid infrastructure and energy generation projects. Avangrid has offices in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and Oregon, including operations in 23 states with approximately $48 billion in assets, and has two primary lines of business: networks and power. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.4 million customers in New York and New England. Through its power generation business, Avangrid owns and operates 80 energy generation facilities across the United States producing 10.5 GW of power for over 3.1 million customers. Avangrid employs approximately 8,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens – in 2025 for the fifth consecutive year. The company was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2025 for the seventh consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.
About Iberdrola: Iberdrola is one of the world's biggest energy companies and a leader in renewables, spearheading the energy transition to a low carbon economy. The group supplies energy to almost 100 million people in dozens of countries. With a focus on renewable energy, smart networks and smart solutions for customers, Iberdrola’s main markets include Europe (Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy and Greece), the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. The company is also present in growth markets such as Japan, Taiwan, Ireland, Sweden and Poland, among others.
With a workforce of nearly 40,000 and assets in excess of €141.7 billion, across the world, Iberdrola helps to support 400,000 jobs across its supply chain, with annual procurement of €12.2 billion. A benchmark in the fight against climate change, Iberdrola has invested more than €130 billion over the past two decades to help build a sustainable energy model, based on sound environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.
