JCP&L: We're Making Morristown Service Better

JCP&L has completed what it called a "major milestone" in improving Morristown's underground electric network.

The company finished installing two new electrical switches, weighing about 500 pounds each, on Saturday.

The switches use new technology to help redirect power should outages occur, according to JCP&L.

“We are committed to continuous improvement of our infrastructure to deliver the quality service our customers expect and deserve,”  JCP&L President Don Lynch said in a statement from the company. “The switch replacements mark a significant accomplishment to improve the service reliability of the Morristown underground network.”

Morristown-area residents saw major outages during and after tropical storm Irene, and then the freak October snowstorm. In the case of Irene,  —leaving many without power for several days. Company officials as well as municipal workers struggled to get enough access to the area to restore service quickly.

Work will  begin this week to upgrade relays at the Morristown substation to
reduce the length of any future power outages, the company said in its statement.

According to JCP&L, the installation of the switches is just the latest in a series of improvements this year. JCP&L said that since February, it has sampled oil in the electrical underground network transformers and completed preventative maintenance on circuit breakers, added special animal guards on four circuits at the Morristown substation to prevent animal-related outages, trained employees  on electrical vault inspections and data collection to support effective preventative maintenance, training Morristown firefighters on the underground network, and installed another similar switch to the ones completed this week.