JCP&L Claims 'Reliability Enhancements' For 100,000 Customers

Jersey Central Power & Light closed out 2013 by completing scheduled reliability enhancement projects on 94 major circuits that serve more than 100,000 customers in northern and central New Jersey, according to a statement released Friday.

According to the report, the company also completed multiple reliability inspection programs by year end, including infrared scans on nearly 400 distribution and sub-transmission lines and inspecting 284 overhead and underground circuits and nearly 34,000 utility poles.

“These infrastructure investments are designed to enhance day-to-day service reliability now, along with maintaining our system’s capability to handle future load growth,” said James Fakult, president, JCP&L. “When combined with the similar investments we made last year, JCP&L remains committed to enhancing the quality of service we provide our customers.”

The circuit upgrades include adding automatic reclosing devices, replacing crossarms, lightning arrestors, fuses, animal guards and spacer cable devices as needed, which is expected to help limit the frequency and duration of power outages. The work is part of JCP&L’s overall $200 million investment in 2013 designed to help improve service reliability.

JCP&L work locally in 2013 included:

• Completing $25 million of vegetation management along 3,600 miles of electrical lines.
• Completing a $12 million transmission line upgrade from Whippany to Roseland.
• JCP&L also added new employees this year and implemented new tools to enhance communications with customers and public officials.
• Three area managers were added to help maintain closer ties with local officials and the communities they represent.
• JCP&L named its first manager of Emergency Preparedness.
• Partnerships were created with International Brotherhood of Electrical Worker unions in the northern and central service territories to provide extra safety personnel during emergencies.
• “My Town” web pages were added to provide comprehensive municipal information for outages and infrastructure.
• A free smartphone app and text alerts were created to improve customer information and service.