According to the company, the upgrades are deemed necessary to maintain reliability of the power supply system and keep the lights on in years ahead. Among the upgrades and improvements is a 500kV transmission line to be built in northern New Jersey to strengthen the regional grid.
With these newest upgrades, PJM’s board has authorized nearly $13.3 billion in total transmission investment through the Regional Transmission Expansion Planning (RTEP) process. The regional transmission plan evaluates the changes and needs related to keeping the power system reliable over a 15-year horizon, said PJM.
The new transmission project in New Jersey involves building a 500kV line from Branchburg substation in Somerset County to Roseland substation in Essex County, and then continuing from Roseland to the Hudson substation, in Hudson County. The project is being built by the Public Service Electric and Gas Company to address reliability violations in the region expected to develop by 2013.
PJM Interconnection is a regional transmission organization (RTO) that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
