Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., is upgrading two power lines in Morris and Monmouth counties, New Jersey. The upgrades, part of JCP&L's New Jersey Reliability Improvement Project, are scheduled for completion in November. This initiative follows the company's rate review settlement approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in February.
Doug Mokoid, FirstEnergy's President for New Jersey, stated: "JCP&L is committed to the safe, reliable delivery of electricity to our 1.1 million customers in New Jersey in a cost-conscious manner. The upgrades we are undertaking as part of the Reliability Improvement Project are one of the ways we are ensuring we are meeting our customer commitments."
The enhancements include replacing existing infrastructure with thicker wires and poles to increase capacity and storm resilience, upgrading fuses, installing remote-access devices and reclosers to minimize outage impacts, deploying TripSaver devices to automatically re-energize lines after temporary issues, and conducting additional tree trimming along circuits.
In Monmouth County, equipment enhancements will occur along more than 10 miles of lines starting from a JCP&L substation in Howell Township and continuing to Freehold Township. Approximately 2,200 customers will benefit from these improvements. In Morris County, about 2,174 customers will benefit from similar upgrades beginning at a substation in Gillette/Long Hill Township extending into Chatham Township.
These projects represent the first two of 18 lines slated for upgrades under the New Jersey Reliability Improvement Project. The first phase involves at least $95 million in upgrades over three years; second-phase repairs are expected by the end of 2028.
JCP&L serves 1.1 million customers across several counties including Burlington, Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex Union and Warren.
FirstEnergy operates one of the largest investor-owned electric systems in the nation through its distribution companies serving Ohio Pennsylvania West Virginia Maryland and New York Follow FirstEnergy on X @FirstEnergyCorp or online at firstenergycorp.com
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