JCP&L power outage: Utility has a $935M plan to cut down outages, and here's how

Working its way through the regulatory process is a $935 million plan that Jersey Central Power & Light says can help lessen the frequency, size and duration of outages, including some plaguing the electric system right now.

A spokesman for JCP&L said the utility hopes there will be a resolution with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities this summer on its infrastructure project, called EnergizeNJ.

The investment, the largest JCP&L has ever made, will modernize the electric grid, including the utility's substations, overhead wires and electric circuits, and improve resiliency, making the system more durable to help prevent outages, the company said.

In the last few days, customers in Monmouth and Ocean counties have gone through power outages, some of which have lasted for hours.

Statewide, more than 39,000 out of JCP&L's nearly 1.14 million customers, mostly in northern service territory, were without power as of 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

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On Wednesday, an equipment failure at a substation in Waretown left 13,000 customers without power in Waretown and Barnegat. The final customers had their power restored on Thursday morning.

Last Saturday, about 17,000 customers near Middletown, Atlantic Highlands and Highlands lost their electricity after a lightning strike on a high-voltage sub-transmission line and a downed tree limb.

Some of the proposed investments will make it easier for the utility to isolate damage to its system, and reroute electricity so fewer customers lose power, JCP&L spokesman Chris Hoenig said. Other electric outages, such as those caused by a tripped circuit breakers, could be fixed automatically without sending a work crew to the scene.

"A big portion of storm resiliency is flexibility, having the ability to move customers around to where we have the load availbale," Hoenig said. "It's resiliency in the stronger wiring and trip savers to get the power back on automatically faster, to be able to move customers around and reduce the number of customers affected and how long they're out."

The work includes:

• Upgrading more than 600 miles of overhead power lines with stronger utility poles and heavier wiring that supports increased capacity and offers protection in the event of falling branches and other damage from storms.

• Replacing approximately 46 miles of aging underground lines with modern and more protected wiring.

• Installing 2,175 new devices across 500 JCP&L circuits. This equipment works like a circuit breaker in a home, but also automatically re-energizes a power line within seconds to keep electricity safely flowing to customers and reduce the size and duration of outages, JCP&L said.

• Upgrading 18 substations to support additional backup power feeds that will help keep the lights on for customers if wires or equipment on their line are damaged or need to be taken out of service.

• 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.

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Meanwhile, proposed legislation by Assemblymen Gregory P. McGuckin and Paul Kanitra, both R-Ocean, would require the state's electric utilities to report the number, duration and circumstances of outages each year to the state Board of Public Utilities.

"I think it's really important for the BPU to have a good handle on that so that their members and customers can go to BPU and say 'Why was it out for so long?'" McGuckin said. It would allow customers to compare the performance of the state's utilities, he added.

"Historically, in my portion of the state, Ocean County, we have had tremendous outage problems over the years," McGuckin said. "It's better now."

"It's always been a feeling of mine that JCP&L has not invested properly in the infrastructure as the Shore area exploded," McGuckin said. "That's what's led to 30, 40 years of continuing catch up, which they're still doing."

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David P. Willis: dwillis@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: JCP&L power outages could be cut back with this $935M plan