JCP&L Expands Substation in West Amwell to Increase Capacity and Enhance Service Reliability
MORRISTOWN, N.J., May 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) plans to build a $10 million substation expansion in Hunterdon County to enhance customer service reliability and meet the growing demand for electricity in the area.
The construction project involves adding new 230-kilovolt circuit breakers, transformers and other equipment to the existing Rocktown Substation in West Amwell Township. A new, half-mile transmission line loop also will be built as part of the project to connect the expanded section of the substation with a nearby 230-kilovolt transmission line. A key function of the substation is to use the circuit breakers and transformers to reduce the transmission line voltage to a level that can be used by local customers.
"The Rocktown Substation project will benefit more than 75,000 customers in Hunterdon County and Hopewell Township in Mercer County," said Anthony Hurley, JCP&L vice president of Operations. "Having another power source adds resiliency to our system and allows switching to other circuits, which is expected to shorten power outages if they occur. Thanks to the cooperation from West Amwell Township, we expect the project to be in service by the end of the year."
The West Amwell Planning Board recently granted preliminary approval for the Rocktown Substation expansion project.
"We appreciate and support JCP&L's efforts to enhance service reliability for our residents and those in nearby communities. The township and our residents also appreciate the significant investment the company is making in our community," said West Amwell Township Mayor Zach Rich.
This project is part of JCP&L's previously announced $251 million infrastructure investment in 2014 and is one of several included in JCP&L's "Energizing the Future" initiative to expand and enhance its transmission system in northern and central New Jersey to provide better service reliability for customers.
JCP&L is a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE). JCP&L serves 1.1 million customers in the counties of Burlington, Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren. Follow JCP&L on Twitter @JCP_L and Facebook at www.facebook.com/JCPandL.
Editor's Note: Photos showing some of the equipment that will be installed at the expanded JCP&L Rocktown Substation are available for download on Flickr.
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the uncertainties of various cost recovery and cost allocation issues resulting from American Transmission Systems, Incorporated's realignment into PJM Interconnection LLC; economic or weather conditions affecting future sales and margins such as the polar vortex or other significant weather events; regulatory outcomes associated with storm restoration, including but not limited to, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Irene and the October snowstorm of 2011; changing energy, capacity and commodity market prices including, but not limited to, coal, natural gas and oil, and their availability and impact on retail margins; the continued ability of our regulated utilities to recover their costs; costs being higher than anticipated and the success of our policies to control costs and to mitigate low energy, capacity and market prices; other legislative and regulatory changes, and revised environmental requirements, including, but not limited to, possible greenhouse gas emission, water discharge, water intake and coal combustion residual regulations, the potential impacts of Cross State Air Pollution Rule, and the effects of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rules including our estimated costs of compliance; the uncertainty of the timing and amounts of the capital expenditures that may arise in connection with any litigation, including New Source Review litigation or potential regulatory initiatives or rulemakings (including that such expenditures could result in our decision to deactivate or idle certain generating units); the uncertainties associated with the deactivation of certain older regulated and competitive fossil units including the impact on vendor commitments, and the timing thereof as they relate to, among other things, Reliability Must Run arrangements and the reliability of the transmission grid; adverse regulatory or legal decisions and outcomes with respect to our nuclear operations (including, but not limited to the revocation or non-renewal of necessary licenses, approvals or operating permits by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or as a result of the incident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant); issues arising from the indications of cracking in the shield building and the steam generator replacement at Davis-Besse; 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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.
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