POWER SURGE: Alantic City Electric has undertaken a number of projects throughout Southern Ocean County to increase capacity and harden key power and transmission lines against extreme weather events. (Photo by Jack Reynolds)
There’s been a lot of discussion surrounding electricity and how to generate more electric capacity going forward in a society so reliant on technology, including the growing market of electric cars. To be fair, it’s not just cars. Larger homes and buildings are being built across the Long Beach Island region that are seen by some as having the potential to negatively impact the local grid.
With all the electrical upgrades being done by Atlantic City Electric, though, there seems to be no reason to worry.
“We are performing grid modernization work and reliability improvement projects across our service area, including the LBI region and Southern Ocean County communities to enhance reliability for our customers and to meet growing electric demand,” said Frank Tedesco, a spokesman for Atlantic City Electric.
He said the work includes installing new, stronger steel utility poles, upgrading existing substations and building new ones as well as installing innovative technologies such as specialized equipment, like smart switches and reclosers, that can automatically detect issues and restore service faster by automatically isolating damage.
Over the past few years, the electric company has upgraded more than 18 miles of power lines, installed more than 100 automated devices to further improve reliability and connected more than 2,200 solar customers across Southern Ocean County, Tedesco said.
“We are further readying the local energy grid through our ongoing infrastructure enhancements and performing additional analysis to expand the grid’s ability to integrate new technologies to deliver the service that is needed now and in the future,” he said.
Those efforts, according to Tedesco, include the continued effort to support growth of distributed energy resources such as solar, battery storage technology and electric vehicles.
In the meantime, upgrades to a key power line between Beach Haven and Ship Bottom to harden it against more-extreme weather was recently completed, he said. That work is part of Atlantic City Electric’s PowerAhead grid resiliency initiative, which was launched in 2017. The program seeks to modernize electric grids by bolstering system elasticity in vulnerable areas. At the time the initiative was launched, electric company officials estimated spending $79 million on new infrastructure and system upgrades over a five-year period.
A similar project is planned for a key transmission line that delivers power from the mainland to the Island in the near future, according to Tedesco.
“We also upgraded the Ship Bottom substation with new electric equipment to enhance reliability for local customers,” he said.
In October, the electric company is expected to start the Beach Haven Battery Storage project, Tedesco said. A battery storage system will be installed, improving the quality of energy service for thousands of customers and seasonal visitors not just in Beach Haven, but across the Island during the times when customer demand is at its highest, he added.
“We are also upgrading the Motts Farm substation in Little Egg Harbor Township with more modern equipment to benefit customers in the township,” Tedesco said.
Additionally, as part of its Smart Energy Network initiative, Atlantic City Electric will begin the broad installation of new smart meters for customers beginning in September, he said. That project is expected to run through 2024.
“These upgrades are a key element of our Smart Energy Network to create smarter and more resilient energy infrastructure while providing new tools for an enhanced customer experience, including better integration on new energy technologies and services like electric vehicle charging,” Tedesco said.
With new technologies and ongoing reliability improvement work, Atlantic City Electric has reduced power outages by more than 60% in Southern Ocean County over the last five years, he said.
“Overall, customers across our entire service area experienced the lowest frequency of electric outages ever in 2020 and again in 2021, which is a testament to this ongoing work and the benefits of implementing best practices across the Exelon family of companies,” Tedesco said.
— Gina G. Scala
