JCP&L to undertake its largest modernisation project for NJ grid

FirstEnergy subsidiary Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) announced a five-year, $935 million proposal that includes key investments in grid modernisation, system resiliency and substation modernisation, and represents the largest infrastructure upgrade investment in the company’s history.

Known as EnergizeNJ, the five-year, $935 million proposal includes key investments in grid modernisation, system resiliency, and substation modernization, and represents the largest infrastructure upgrade investment in company history.

JCP&L said it would file a new infrastructure improvement program with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) on Friday for the proposal that is meant to strengthen the backbone of its local electric system and provide the foundation for smart grid capabilities in the future.

EnergizeNJ builds upon system enhancements completed since the BPU approved the company’s Reliability Plus plan in 2019. To date, JCP&L says that the 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.

EnergizeNJ‘s key investments include:

• Upgrading more than 600 miles (965.606km) of overhead power lines with more robust wiring that supports increased capacity and added resistance to high-impact storms.
• Replacing approximately 46 miles (74km) of aging underground lines with modern and more protected wiring.
• Installing 2,175 new TripSaver devices across 500 JCP&L circuits. These programmable devices work like a circuit breaker in a home, and can automatically re-energise a power line within seconds to keep power safely flowing to customers, reducing the size and duration of outages.
• Standardising service voltage across JCP&L’s footprint, allowing for additional circuits to be connected as a backup in case of issues with a given circuit.
• 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.
• Installing modernised protective devices and upgrading various substation components.
• Enhancing equipment at central New Jersey coastal substations with more protective housing to lessen the effects of the increased salt in the environment.
• Purchasing additional mobile substations to provide redundancy and emergency backup in the event of significant power outages.

As New Jersey moves to increase clean energy resources, the upgrades and increased capacity are meant to accommodate the connection of additional resources, such as solar development and the expansion of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The overall program is intended to help 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.

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If approved, JCP&L says its typical residential customer using 783 KWh of electricity per month, whose bill is currently $116.88, could expect to see a total increase of approximately $4.16, or 3.6%, on their monthly electric bill over the course of the five-year plan. The rate adjustments would take place incrementally, with seven rate adjustments ranging from approximately $0.10 to $0.99.

According to the US 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.

Earlier this year, JCP&L requested a rate adjustment review by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU). The utility said it wants to make a $185 million investment to strengthen the energy grid, enhance the customer experience, and fund new low-income and senior citizen customer assistance programs.

If approved, a typical JCP&L residential customer using 780 kilowatt hours per month would see a 7.5% overall rate increase – or $8.45 monthly. JCP&L said its customers would continue to pay among the lowest residential electric rates among New Jersey’s four regulated electric distribution companies.

The utility said that since its last rate review in 2020 it has made more than $794 million in investments to modernize and strengthen its electric grid.  These investments include the installation of devices that can sense an outage and automatically transfer customers onto an adjacent circuit, upgrades to company substations in Monmouth, Ocean and Morris counties that provide for additional capacity and redundancy and expansion of a substation to accommodate significant growth in electric demand in Ocean County.

The proposal also includes an increase of more than $10 million per year in the company’s budget to maintain trees located outside of rights-of-way that pose a threat to power lines. The funding would also allow the removal of additional trees damaged by the emerald ash borer that are a potential threat to power lines.

The filing also includes the recovery of costs incurred by JCP&L from the impact of major storms, including Tropical Storm Isaias, the remnants of Hurricane Ida, 2021’s bow echo, Winter Storms Zeta and Elliott and other weather-related events.

Originally published by Sean Wolfe and edited with permission from Power Grid.