Metropolitan Edison Co. (Met-Ed) built a $10 million substation in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Located on Bernville Road, in Jefferson Township, the substation was energized in late June and is expected to enhance service reliability by providing a more localized and redundant supply of power to the area, which is expected to help mitigate the frequency and duration of power outages if they occur.
The new facility also is expected to provide other benefits to the northern and northwestern areas of Berks County. Construction of Northkill began nearly three years ago and involved Met-Ed and FirstEnergy employees as well as outside contractors. Construction involved the removal of 600 trucks of fill and the installation of nearly 140 tons of steel.
Earlier this year Met-Ed announced it would spend about $116 million in 2013 to enhance service reliability and help meet increasing demand for electricity. The new Northkill substation will add capacity to Met-Ed’s 69 kV system — the backbone of the local electric grid. The 69 kV system feeds the area’s distribution substations which ultimately serve Met-Ed’s residential and commercial customers. The Northkill substation was located close to existing transmission lines, eliminating the need to build new ones.
Met-Ed is a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. Met-Ed serves about 550,000 in 15 Pennsylvania counties.
