Duquesne Light on Thursday unveiled a new facility aimed at providing more power to Downtown Pittsburgh, highlighting the beginning of a nearly $3 billion commitment to better serve its customers in Allegheny and Beaver counties.

The new Watson Substation is a state-of-the-art facility created to enhance the resiliency and capacity of Downtown Pittsburgh's electricity grid and strengthen the infrastructure that powers the businesses and residential buildings in the Golden Triangle, Duquesne Light said. 

It was first conceived in 2017 and required an investment of more than $237 million from Duquesne Light.

"A very specific solution for a challenge, but we think about just upgrading our facilities in general," said Jason Keller, Duquesne Light's director of grid infrastructure and engineering. "Replacing aged infrastructure with new, modern infrastructure, really holistically looking at our system and making sure we're investing the dollars where it needs to go."

Not only will the new substation supplement the other substations that power Downtown, but with 130 solar panels on its roof, it will also be energy efficient and more environmentally friendly. Those solar panels will power the lighting and other electrical facilities within the substation, making the building self-sufficient.

"When you think about the vision of Duquesne Light, it's a clean energy future for all," Keller said. "We want to make sure we're doing our part. Substations transmit a lot of power."

As part of the initial transfer of power to this new substation, Duquesne Light will interrupt services in certain parts of Downtown during the evenings of Oct. 28 and Oct. 29 to lessen the impact on the buildings in the area. 

"These dates have actually been moved a few times, but obviously we're doing this overnight because we want to make sure we're hitting Downtown where it doesn't have a lot of foot traffic," Keller said.

To prepare for these service interruptions, customer relations manager Kerry Hughes said the company has made phone calls and sent emails and text messages to residents and businesses to make sure everyone is informed of what's coming.

"Our goal in all of this, really, is just to ensure that people are aware and prepared," said Hughes. 

Once that transfer of power has been completed, the substation should be completed and operational by the end of the year, providing plenty of time before the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft. The three-day selection event, scheduled to take place in Downtown Pittsburgh and on the North Shore, could be the first big test for the city's newest edition of its stronger, more efficient power grid.

"Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," Keller said. "We certainly didn't know about the draft when we were planning for Watson, but as we were learning about the draft when the draft was announced — when we started understanding some of the logistics and the schedule — clearly we wanted Watson in service prior to all of that."