MASSENA -- The New York Power Authority is now using a central command center that they say will analyze the performance of its generation and transmission network and identify potential problems before they can cause service outages.

In time, NYPA intends to use the center to also monitor its cybersecurity, physical security, network operations and information technology and operations technology services throughout its generation and transmission system, which stretches from Massena to eastern Long Island.

“The center, using software provided by GE Power, will help NYPA achieve its 2020 Strategic Plan to improve the efficiency and reliability of its facilities while also making them more cost-effective,” NYPA said in a news release.

The Integrated Smart Operations Center will initially monitor operations at NYPA’s 500-megawatt combined-cycle power plant in Queens and expand to monitor all NYPA assets

The center will be used to predict potential failures and unplanned downtime to increase reliability and lower operational costs and risks, NYPA said.

“This is an exciting milestone in our digital journey,” Gil C. Quiniones, NYPA president and CEO said in a prepared statement. “The Integrated Smart Operations Center will become the new standard in utility asset management and help us fulfill our core mission to provide power to our customers that is both low in cost and reliable.”

NYPA, the nation’s largest state-owned utility, typically supplies 15 to 20 percent of the state’s power daily from its 16 generating facilities and owns one-third of New York’s high-voltage power lines.

The center will use asset performance management software that runs on GE’s Predix operating system. Using sensors embedded in equipment such as turbines and transmission lines, it will better enable NYPA to better detect problems that could affect the utility’s ecosystem, sometimes weeks in advance, NYPA said.