New Jersey to replace 46 miles of underground electrical lines with $935 million infrastructure proposal
(UI) – FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) will file a new infrastructure improvement program with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) that will strengthen the backbone of its local electric system and provide the foundation for smart grid capabilities in the future. Known as EnergizeNJ, the five-year, $935 million proposal includes key investments in grid modernization, system resiliency and substation modernization, and represents the largest infrastructure upgrade investment in company history.
EnergizeNJ builds upon system enhancements completed since the BPU approved the company's Reliability Plus plan in 2019. To date, that program has resulted in improved outage restoration times for customers in areas where smart technology was installed and prevented or reduced the length of outages by millions of minutes, cumulatively. Learn more about how customers have benefited from Reliability Plus.
EnergizeNJ will offer more customer benefits through key investments that include replacing approximately 46 miles of aging underground lines with modern and more protected wiring. The project will also involve upgrading 18 substations to support additional backup power feeds that will help keep the lights on for customers if wires or equipment on their regular line are damaged or need to be taken out of service, as well as increase overall system capacity.
The overall program helps ensure the grid is prepared for the transition to New Jersey's clean energy future.
Locations for the EnergizeNJ work are based on a review of historical outage data across JCP&L's 13-county service area to identify the areas that stand to benefit most from upgraded power lines and new technology.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Interruption Cost Estimate tool, the $935 million EnergizeNJ proposal is expected to deliver an estimated $3.08 billion return on investment in electric service reliability benefits to JCP&L customers by helping prevent non-storm-related outages and expediting power restoration during significant storm events.
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