Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, is upgrading its electric grid in portions of Mercer County to help prevent or minimize the impact of outages for nearly 1,000 customers in Hopewell Township, particularly during severe weather.
"We've designed a variety of grid enhancement projects tailored specifically to the area where the work is being done to help provide the most efficient and impactful upgrades that will meet customer demands for safe, reliable electricity for many years to come,” said Doug Mokoid, FirstEnergy's President of New Jersey.
The project includes:
- Upgrading approximately four miles of existing infrastructure in two separate areas with thicker, stronger poles and overhead wire that can safely carry more electricity and provide more resiliency in storms.
- Installing approximately 0.25 miles of underground wires connecting the two upgrade zones, providing additional flexibility and protection.
- Increasing the number of protective devices and reclosers that allow power to be rerouted to adjacent lines when an outage occurs, minimizing the number of impacted customers.
- Installing TripSaver devices, which sense temporary abnormalities along power lines, such as a tree branch bouncing off lines, and automatically reenergize the line after the condition has passed without having to send a crew to investigate.
- Conducting additional tree trimming and vegetation management to enhance service reliability.
The work is part of JCP&L's Supplemental High Priority Circuit Program, which expands upon the company's New Jersey Reliability Improvement Project, a two-phase effort to enhance reliability for customers on high-priority lines selected based on historical outage data. While the first phase, which includes at least $95 million in upgrades, is set to be completed over the next three years, the second-phase work, which includes longer-duration projects, is scheduled for completion by the end of 2028.
The reliability projects under progress are part of Energize365, FirstEnergy's grid evolution program.
