The Northeast U.S. heat wave has highlighted deficiencies in transmission and distribution of power, not least of all in the New York City market. "I think it is certainly a case where you have concrete data to illustrate where it is economic to do upgrades," says Jone-Lin Wang, senior director and head of research at Cambridge Energy Research Associates in Washington, D.C.

According to New York Independent System Operator spokesman Ken Klapp in Albany, N.Y., the ISO expected usage for the summer to be 32,300 MW and it has well exceeded that in early August at 33,939 MW. "Under the circumstances I think the power grid worked quite well, but there is a need to reinforce our transmission infrastructure," he says. He notes the ISO plans on releasing a report in mid August that details the region's need for not only improved transmission and delivery but more generation.

But despite peaking demand and record levels little has been done since outages in 2003 sent much of the East Coast into darkness. Linda Blair, senior v.p. at ITC Holdings Corp. in Novi, Mich., says the sustained sweltering weather throughout the country has spotlighted a need for improvement. "There's a big gap, a big void . . . and therefore potential opportunity for investments." She declined to talk specifically about ITC's plans.

Gautam Mukherjee, director of electric transmission at CERA, says there are billions of dollars in developments in New England and in Boston that should alleviate transmission woes in those markets, but notes that few major developments are on deck for New York. "There has been about 1,000 MW of nw generation added but that hasn't eliminated congestion."