Jersey Central Power & Light to invest $97M in improvements
Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) received the go-ahead from state authorities for its Reliability Plus Infrastructure Investment Program, which calls for investing $97 million in improvements.
JCP&L Reliability Plus plan will address tree damage to the distribution system caused by severe weather events. The work would be completed between June 1, 2019, and Dec. 31, 2020. Once completed, JCP&L expects that customers will experience fewer outages and shorter outages.
“We have taken great care to ensure that JCP&L Reliability Plus focuses on the enhancements that have the most reliability benefit for our more than one million New Jersey customers,” Jim Fakult, president of JCP&L, said. “The enhancements implemented through this program will help reduce the frequency of power outages, address tree damage during severe weather events, provide more flexibility for operating the system and help modernize our electric grid in New Jersey.”
The cost will be recovered under a new rate provision. Over the course of the program, the average JCP&L residential customer using 768 kilowatt hours per month is expected to see a 0.5 percent overall rate increase. That equates to a monthly increase of about 50 cents.
The plan was approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, the NJ Division of Rate Counsel, and the New Jersey Large Energy Users Coalition.
JCP&L serves 1.1 million New Jersey customers in the counties of Burlington, Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren.
