Nov 26, 2025
5 Pillars of Holistic Substation Upgrades—and Why They Matter
Downtown Pittsburgh is set to receive a significant boost in power availability with a new, state-of-the-art substation in the works. The substation is just the first component in a $3 billion investment by Duquesne Light. Over the next several years, the utility will be upgrading existing facilities and installing new ones to improve power delivery in Allegheny and Beaver counties.
Duquesne Light is committed to implementing the project holistically. They plan to apply very specific solutions to each challenge while still upgrading their infrastructure, including substations, to be more resilient and efficient. To be clear, holistic upgrades go beyond mere traditional equipment replacement. They incorporate sustainability, digitization, climate adaptation, aesthetics, and neighborhood alignment.
There are five components of holistic substation upgrades. They matter because power generation and delivery are evolving. If engineers do not ensure substations can keep up, companies like Duquesne Light will end up having to build too many new substations because the old ones are not getting things done.
Component #1: Equipment Modernization
Every substation upgrade begins with modernizing core power equipment. Foundational hardware remains intact while legacy units are replaced with newer selections offering high efficiency and little-to-no maintenance.
Engineers include advanced circuit breakers and relays. They upgrade busbars, isolators, surge arresters, and capacitor banks. Everything is topped off with modern switchgear and high-voltage disconnectors.
Component #2: Digital Control Systems
Substation engineering in the 2020s makes use of digital substations whenever possible. A digital substation is a software-controlled environment that centralizes and virtualizes protection while reducing hardware requirements. The entire system is made intelligent through a variety of AI and IoT sensors producing data that powers the software.
Component #3: Sustainability and Climate Resilience
The holistic approach to substation upgrades demands engineering facilities to adapt to environmental changes, both long and short term. Sustainability is a big part of that, leaning on integration with renewable energy sources, including solar and wind. The modern substation should be flexible enough to handle a variety of inputs.
Meanwhile, physical redesigns buttress the upgraded substation to better resist extreme weather. The other side of that coin is minimizing a substation's environmental impact. Energy-efficient cooling systems and state-of-the-art transformers see to that.
Component #4: Community Design Integration
Substation engineering and design doesn't require building substations that are ugly and out of place. Indeed, the holistic approach calls for community design integration. In other words, substations are upgraded with the surrounding area in mind. New substations are designed to fit seamlessly into the community.
For example, aesthetic enclosures designed to reduce both noise and visual pollution are more welcome in neighborhoods. In addition, newly upgraded and built substations also need to be safe.
Component #5: Lifecycle Strategy
Last but not least is the substation's life cycle. A holistically upgraded substation integrates physical, digital, environmental, and social components into a lifecycle strategy that emphasizes continual adaptability. Deploying the latest in advanced automation, human design, and robust power hardware, holistically upgraded substations are not only ready to meet current power demands but also to adapt as those needs change down the road.
Modern substation upgrades require more than just new equipment. They require a new approach to designing and implementing better ways to control power distribution at the neighborhood level. Doing it holistically means leveraging the best equipment we can find with design trends that account for sustainability, digitization, and community integration.
We will have to see what Duquesne Light comes up with in Pennsylvania. We are guessing their upgraded substations are going to be pretty impressive by traditional standards. The good people of Pennsylvania will be the beneficiaries.
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