Specifying Medium Voltage Switchgear for Con Edison Territory

Specifying medium voltage switchgear for a building inside Con Edison's territory is a different exercise from specifying it anywhere else, because the utility interface isn't generic. It's specific to Con Edison's own requirements, and a switchgear package that would be fine in another utility's territory can be the wrong equipment here.

The voltage classes involved

Benfield's medium voltage power distribution line covers 5kV, 15kV and 38kV class switchgear for industrial, commercial and critical power markets, including switchgear built to be EO-2022 compliant for Con Edison applications specifically. Getting the class right isn't just a rating on a nameplate, it determines what the utility will accept as an interconnection, and specifying the wrong class tends to surface late, after the equipment has already been ordered.

What the engineering side covers

The equipment is only part of the specification. Benfield's engineering on MV switchgear includes short circuit coordination and arc flash studies, NYC EPR drawings where the project requires them, point-to-point diagrams that show exactly how the system is wired end to end, and protective relay programming, which is the part of the job that decides how the system behaves when something goes wrong rather than just how it's built.

Testing before it's your problem

Factory witness tests happen before the switchgear ships, with the customer's representative present to confirm the equipment performs as specified before it ever reaches the site. Certified NETA testing happens again once the equipment is installed, a separate check on the equipment as commissioned rather than a repeat of the factory test. Field engineering support covers the gap between those two points, when equipment that tested fine in the factory has to go in correctly on a real site.

The brands behind the equipment

Benfield's low voltage and medium voltage switchgear lines draw on Eaton, SEL, ABB, REX Power and Hammond, depending on what the application calls for. Critical power equipment, UPS systems with bypass maintenance switchboards and generator solutions for hospitals, data centers and other facilities that can't tolerate downtime, draws on Vertiv and Eaton Powerware. The low voltage side of the same power distribution line covers UL891 switchboards and UL1558 switchgear built to NEMA 1, 12, 3R and 4X enclosure ratings, standard or customized with integrated metering, which matters on a project where the medium voltage service steps down into low voltage distribution on the same site and both halves need to be specified as one coordinated system rather than two separate purchases.

This is the kind of equipment where the distributor's own history carries weight. Benfield has been independently owned and run out of Mount Vernon since 1951, and has been named to the Westchester 50, a ranking of privately owned Westchester County businesses recognized for their contribution to the local economy. On a project where the switchgear has to be right the first time because a Con Edison interconnection doesn't get a second attempt cheaply, that kind of continuity is part of what's actually being specified alongside the equipment itself.

What to have ready before the specification meeting

• The exact voltage class the utility interconnection requires, confirmed against Con Edison's own requirements rather than assumed from a similar job elsewhere.
• Whether EO-2022 compliance applies to this installation.
• Whether short circuit coordination and arc flash studies already exist for the site, or need to be produced as part of this scope.
• Who is doing protective relay programming, and whether point-to-point diagrams are included in that scope or need to be requested separately.
• A factory witness test schedule built into the project timeline rather than added after the equipment ships.

Getting these answered before the order goes in is what keeps a Con Edison territory switchgear project from becoming a late-stage redesign.