Pennsylvania Electric Co. (Penelec), a unit of FirstEnergy Corp., completed scheduled reliability enhancement projects and upgrades for 2013 on major circuits that serve nearly 122,000 customers throughout Pennsylvania.
In addition, Penelec completed multiple reliability inspection programs by year-end, including inspecting 254 overhead and underground circuits and nearly 43,000 utility poles.
The circuit upgrades include adding automatic reclosing devices, replacing crossarms, lightning arrestors, fuses, animal guards and spacer cable devices as needed, which are expected to help limit the frequency and duration of power outages. The work is part of an overall expenditure of more than $100 million in 2013 designed to help improve service reliability.
Highlights of other Penelec 2013 reliability work include:
· Completing $34 million of vegetation management along more than 7,000 miles of distribution electrical lines.
· Completing a nearly $1 million installation of new sectionalizing devices such as fuses and reclosers to help limit the scope of unplanned outages across the service territory.
· Installing equipment to help maintain proper voltage levels. This is intended to benefit industrial and large commercial customers that operate large motors, drives and other machinery.
