How Electricity Gets to Your Home
Life. Powered by Central Hudson.
Electricity powers your life — from the first light of morning to the last screen glow at night. It’s easy to take for granted. Flip a switch, press a button, plug in a charger — and it’s just there. But behind that simplicity is a complex system, maintained by skilled professionals and supported by the delivery portion of your bill. This is the part of your bill that keeps the power flowing — safely, reliably, and ready when you need it.
Let’s take a look at what goes into making electricity feel “just there.”
Distribution:The Last Mile to Your Home |
You see it every day — poles, wires, and underground cables that carry electricity right to your door. This system requires constant care, upgrades, and the expertise of our crews to keep it reliable. We also trim trees and manage vegetation to prevent outages. We’re investing in upgrades to make this system more resilient to storms, support clean energy, and meet growing demand from electric vehicles, heat pumps, and more. |
Substations:The Voltage Gatekeepers |
Before electricity reaches your neighborhood, it passes through a substation. Here, high-voltage power is stepped down to safer levels for local delivery. Our teams monitor and maintain these facilities around the clock to ensure safe, efficient operation. |
Transmission:The Long-Distance Highway |
Electricity often travels hundreds of miles from its source to reach you. Transmission lines carry this high-voltage power across regions to substations. We also care for the land beneath these lines — maintaining rights-of-way to protect both reliability and local ecosystems. |
System Monitoring & Outage Response |
This complex system is monitored by skilled Central Hudson employees 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. From our control centers, teams track the flow of electricity across the grid, respond to outages, and coordinate repairs — often in real time and in challenging conditions. Whether it’s a storm, equipment failure, or a tree on the line, our crews are ready to act quickly to restore power and keep the system safe and reliable. Click here to see how we restore power. |
Where Electricity Comes From
Central Hudson doesn’t generate electricity — we deliver it. We purchase power on your behalf, and what we pay is what you pay. This cost appears as the supply charge on your bill. The delivery charge covers everything it takes to bring that electricity to your home — the infrastructure, the people, and the protection of the environment along the way.
Click here for more information about how your bill works.