To help enhance service reliability for customers, FirstEnergy Corp. is continuing construction work this summer and throughout the remainder of 2016 on distribution and transmission infrastructure projects totaling approximately $115 million in Toledo Edison's service territory.
To date, more than $59 million of the total has been spent on a variety of projects, including enhancing the downtown Toledo underground network, constructing new transmission lines, replacing a circuit breaker that helps connect Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station to the electric grid, and inspecting and replacing utility poles.
"We continually review and re-evaluate our system, looking for projects that can provide the greatest benefit to the greatest number of our customers," said Rich Sweeney, regional president of Toledo Edison. "These proactive upgrades are designed to further reduce the number and length of service disruptions our customers might experience."
FirstEnergy projects underway or planned in the Toledo Edison footprint in 2016 include:
- Continuing work on a 138-kilovolt (kV) transmission line connecting substations in Napoleon and Defiance at cost of approximately $10.5 million.
- Working on a new 69-kV transmission line connecting substations in Pemberville and Wayne at a cost of about $12.3 million.
- Beginning work on a 138-kilovolt (kV) transmission line in the Fremont area at a cost of approximately $2 million.
- Inspecting and replacing distribution poles in the Toledo Edison service area at a cost of $1.6 million. This inspection process is conducted on a 10-year cycle. More than 25,000 utility poles are scheduled to be inspected in 2016 and replaced or repaired, as needed.
- Installing new transformers, protective devices, relays and underground cable and other equipment in the downtown Toledo underground network at a cost of nearly $800,000.
- Replacing 345-kV circuit breakers at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station at a cost of $660,000.
- Upgrading equipment on distribution circuits throughout the region at an estimated cost of about $2 million to help reduce the number of outages and improve reliability. The improvements include adding and replacing transformer banks, lightning protection devices, insulators, cross arms and braces, grounds and animal guards.
More than $69 million of the budgeted total will be spent on transmission-related projects owned by American Transmission Systems, Incorporated, a FirstEnergy transmission company.
