The Singer project — which is expected to be completed in 2027 at a cost of $47 million — is one of three similar floodwalls that the Orange-based utility has either constructed or is planning to build to protect coastal substations. Last year, UI finished construction of its first floodwall around the Congress Street Substation, also in Bridgeport. The final project, a wall protecting the Grand Ave./Mill River Substation in New Haven, is due to be completed in 2028, officials said. The combined cost of all three projects is expected to be $146 million, according to a UI spokeswoman. Connecticut’s other major electric utility, Eversource, is also in the process of adding a layer of protection to its network of substations. Elli Ntakou, Eversource’s manager of system resilience and reliability, said the utility recently completed a climate vulnerability assessment to determine which substations or other infrastructure were vulnerable to sea level rise, inland flooding or other climate threats such as drought and extreme heat.

UI is building a series of floodwalls to protect its coastal substations