Powering Economic Development

The completion of a new electrical substation will help power economic development in Oneida County, New York, by supplying electricity to a new $1 billion state-of-the-art, highly-automated world's-first silicon carbide wafer fabrication facility that is expected to draw more than 600 highly-skilled jobs to the region.

The new facility will be built in the town of Marcy, New York, under an agreement between Mohawk Valley EDGE (Economic Development Growth Enterprises Corporation) and CREE, Inc., an American manufacturer and marketer of lighting-class LEDs, lighting products and products for power and radio frequency applications.

CREE’s new facility will create more than 600 full-time highly-skilled technician and engineering positions at the Marcy Nanocenter on the SUNY Polytechnic Institute campus near Utica. Under the terms of the agreement, Mohawk Valley EDGE – which provides a coordinated economic development program designed to drive business investment in Oneida County – agreed to build the new electrical substation that would supply power to the planned facility.

To execute the project, Mohawk Valley EDGE turned to Black & Veatch for help.

The group hired Black & Veatch to provide engineering services on a 1.3-mile transmission line that would link National Grid’s Edic Road substation with the new substation built by the Fort Schuyler Management Corporation. Upon completion, MV Edge hired Black & Veatch directly, this time to perform the preliminary and detailed design for the new 115kV substation. Impressed with the company’s ability to execute, Mohawk Valley EDGE hired Black & Veatch one more time – this time to serve as procurement manager for major equipment and balance-of-plant.

“The successful execution of this project – which started as a transmission line extension and grew from there – is really a testament to the positive working experience and trust relationship between Black & Veatch and Mohawk Valley EDGE,” said Bradford von Thaden, Black & Veatch project manager. “We delivered the project on-time and on-budget, without any major challenges.”

Funding for the facility is backed by a major public-private partnership between the State of New York and Cree, Inc., as announced in October 2019 by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.

“This work directly contributes to the economic development of a growing area of New York State, helping to provide a sustainable and profitable future to the town’s nearly 10,000 residents and neighboring communities,” said Black & Veatch Associate Vice President Jim Juras. “We’re proud to have played a role in enabling such a positive impact on this region.”

“We were very excited to partner with Black & Veatch on this critical project,” said Steve DiMeo, President, Mohawk Valley EDGE. “Working with such a large, experienced engineering, procurement and construction company really allowed us to invest our trust in them to deliver this transmission and substation project. The successful completion of this project allows us to move forward with our CREE partnership, offering this region a critical economic opportunity that will really help secure its future.”