Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) intends to spend approximately $98 million on infrastructure and energy efficiency projects in 2009 in response to a request for support of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine's Economic Assistance and Recovery Plan. The projects were outlined in a recent letter to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU).

"When Governor Corzine asked JCP&L what we could do to help implement his economic plan, we focused on two key areas - making our reliability even better and improving energy efficiency," said Stephen E. Morgan, president, JCP&L. "Implementing these projects this year will provide long-term benefits to our customers while boosting the local economy in the short term."

Some of the JCP&L projects include:

• Infrastructure Upgrades - $40 million on substation upgrades, new transformers, distribution line re-closers and automated breaker operations.
• Demand Response Programs - $34 million on state-of-the-art refrigerant management systems designed to shift air conditioning load to off-peak times, along with expanding existing demand response programs that enable JCP&L to monitor and control customers' electrical usage.
• Energy Efficiency Programs - $11 million on replacing transformers and capacitor control systems, and installing new LED technology street lights.
  

In addition, JCP&L will spend more than $12.7 million on energy efficiency programs that will complement those currently being offered by New Jersey Clean Energy Programs.

Implementing these projects requires regulatory approval. The details regarding these projects will be submitted in an upcoming filing with the BPU. JCP&L has indicated to the BPU that completing the projects is based on the company receiving full recovery of the costs associated with implementation.