FirstEnergy enhances smart grid in Pennsylvania

FirstEnergy company Met-Ed is installing smart reclosers on powerlines in York and Adams Counties in eastern Pennsylvania.

The installations at what have been identified as 53 ‘key spots’ on the overhead power lines are planned to minimise or prevent outages for the more than 24,000 customers in these areas.

Some of the new devices are already in service and the remainder is expected to be installed and operational before the end of the year.

“These upgrades to our energy delivery system will help prevent or minimise the impact of power outages for our Met-Ed customers in numerous communities across York and Adams counties,” promises FirstEnergy’s president, Pennsylvania, John Hawkins.

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“This important work is part of our long-term infrastructure improvement plan II, a $153 million initiative to accelerate investments in our Met-Ed system over five years to help ensure continued reliable electric service for our customers.”

The initiative forms part of FirstEnergy’s Energise365 programme, which includes the long-term infrastructure improvement plan and is investing $26 billion across the company’s distribution and transmission systems between 2024 and 2028.

Its aim is to create a smarter and more reliable and secure grid that will meet and exceed reliability targets and accommodate electric vehicles, the electrification of homes and businesses and clean energy sources.

In addition to smart grid technologies, the programme envisages expansion of both small and large scale distributed energy resources and customer energy efficiency programmes.

In addition to the current project, several other transmission new and rebuild projects are under way or in planning in Pennsylvania as part of the Energise365 programme.

Met-Ed serves approximately 592,000 customers within 8,500km2 of eastern and southeastern Pennsylvania.