At the urging of an investigator, Jersey Central Power & Light has replaced a pair of underground switches in Morristown–including one blamed for a manhole explosion that burned the arm of a motorist from Morris Township last summer.
That switch is at South and James streets. The other is beneath the sidewalk in front of the “Patriot’s Farewell” statue on the Morristown Green. Work was completed last weekend, JCP&L announced on Wednesday.
Installation of the new, 500-pound switches was among 25 recommendations by Special Reliability Master Patrick Downes, who investigated a history of exploding manholes in Morristown and delivered a report to the state Board of Public Utilities in February.
The new gear replaced the last two oil switches in Morristown’s underground network, and will “improve service reliability in the downtown area by using the latest enhanced technology to redirect power in the area should outages occur,” according to a JCP&L statement.
This week the company also plans to upgrade electrical relays at the Morristown substation on Ridgedale Avenue “to reduce the length of any future power outages,” the company said.
The investigator’s report uncovered an “alarming litany of failures” by JCP&L to perform preventive maintenance, BPU President Bob Hanna said in February.
Since then, JCP&L says it has performed preventive maintenance on circuit breakers, added animal guards on four circuits at the substation to prevent wildlife from causing outages, and completed special training for Morristown firefighters.
A company spokesman said the utility still is in the process of obtaining special safety manhole covers, as suggested in the report and urged by Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty.
The announcement comes on the eve of the second anniversary of an explosion that severely damaged the Morristown & Township Library. Manhole problems preceded that event. JCP&L and Public Service Electric & Gas each have denied responsibility for the May 3, 2010, blast, which remains unsolved.
On Saturday the library will celebrate the recent reopening of its 1917 wing, which sustained the worst damage.
The explosion was not part of Patrick Downes’ investigation. Greg Reinert, a spokesman for the BPU, said the board’s reliability and security staff reviewed the case and attempted to examine the library and the evidence.
“Unfortunately, the [library’s] insurance company did not allow our staff into the building,” he said.
MORE ABOUT MORRISTOWN’S MANHOLE PROBLEMS
FROM JCP&L:
Significant Milestone Reached on Improvements to Morristown Underground Electrical Network
Morristown, NJ – Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) completed the installation of two new electrical switches in the Morristown underground network on Saturday, April 28, 2012.
The new switches, weighing about 500 pounds each, will improve service reliability in the downtown area by using the latest enhanced technology to redirect power in the area should outages occur.
“We are committed to continuous improvement of our infrastructure to deliver the quality service our customers expect and deserve,” said JCP&L President Don Lynch. “The switch replacements mark a significant accomplishment to improve the service reliability of the Morristown underground network.”
Earlier this year, JCP&L started work on several infrastructure projects on the network. In addition to the two switch replacements, since February the company has:
- Sampled oil in the electrical underground network transformers and completed preventative maintenance on circuit breakers
- Completed adding special animal guards on four circuits at the Morristown substation to prevent animal-related outages
- Completed additional training for employees on electrical vault inspections and data collection to support effective preventative maintenance.
- Completed electrical safety training on the underground network for Morristown firefighters
- Installed a similar electrical switch in the underground network.
Work will also begin this week to upgrade relays at the Morristown substation to reduce the length of any future power outages.
JCP&L is a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE). 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.
JCP&L has become so unreliable that the Planning Board is now flooded with applicants wanting to install back-up generators. Businesses need a reliable power source, and unfortunately with JCP&L, that’s not available in Morristown. These generators are expensive and add to air pollution.
In spite of what many say, better government regulation of the power industry is needed. We should go back to the regulated utility model used before the deregulation fad caught on. We had the best, most reliable electrical utilities in the world. All First Energy, JCP&L’s parent, seems interested in is cutting costs to pay down their enormous debt and pay the CEO big bucks.