GREENSBURG, Pa., Aug. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- West Penn Power is
completing work on approximately $21
million on power line and substation projects as part of a
targeted 2017 program to reduce the number and duration of power
outages experienced by the company's 720,000 customers.
The work involves installing enhanced protective devices on
wires and poles, rebuilding electric lines, including replacing
damaged insulators, poles, cross arms and wire, and installing
automated and remote control devices.
The projects are part of West Penn Power's 2016-2020 Long-Term
Infrastructure Improvement Plan (LTIIP) approved by the
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Ultimately, this
special program focuses on distribution infrastructure enhancement
projects in the West Penn Power service area, with a total of
$88 million to be spent through 2020
on system improvements.
"The additional projects complement the work we already do each
year to enhance the reliability of our electric system," said
David W. McDonald, president of West
Penn Power. "This year, we are targeting work on
higher-voltage distribution lines that interconnect with multiple
substations as a way of limiting outages, along with installing
equipment that can be operated remotely to help speed the
restoration process."
The scheduled LTIIP projects in the West Penn Power service area
in 2017 include:
- Spending approximately $3.7
million to install new electronic circuit breakers or
"reclosers" in key substations that can be operated remotely from
the company dispatch center. This equipment provides operators the
ability to restore power more quickly and efficiently than if a
crew was needed to investigate the problem. These devices will be
installed on 28 circuits in four substations, including a
substation in Hempfield Township,
Westmoreland County ($960,000, eight circuits); a substation in
Kittanning, Armstrong County ($960,000 eight circuits); a substation in
Uniontown, Fayette County ($720,000, six circuits); and a substation in
Washington, Washington County ($720,000, six circuits). Reclosers open the line
when a system irregularity is detected to stop the flow of
electricity and then automatically reclose to check if the problem,
such a tree branch contacting the line, is still present. The new
electronic reclosers can selectively open certain sections of line,
which can help limit the number of customers affected by an
outage.
- Installing remote-controlled switches on higher-voltage
distribution circuits at a cost of about $3.6 million to allow automatic and remote
switching to help limit the number of customers affected when an
outage occurs. The new controls are engineered to shorten the
duration of outages and to allow for large blocks of customers to
be more quickly restored. The new controls will be installed at 46
switching locations both in substations and on overhead electric
lines throughout West Penn Power's service area.
- Spending approximately $2.7
million to install new fuses, reclosers and wire on about 60
overhead lines, particularly at points where distribution circuits
branch into smaller sections. The new equipment automatically opens
up when sensing system irregularities to stop the flow of
electricity, helping to limit the scope of outages and reduce the
duration.
- Rebuilding portions of 56 distribution circuits at a cost of
about $2.4 million, including
replacing electrical components such as switches, cross arms,
transformers, reclosers, capacitors and insulators to help prevent
outages caused by equipment issues.
- Spending $2 million to replace
damaged insulators, cross arms and wire on higher-voltage lines
that feed distribution substations. Proactive work to prevent
problems on these lines can help avoid outages affecting numerous
customers.
- Replacing underground residential distribution cable with
insulated, corrosion-resistant cable to help prevent outages and
reduce the time necessary to locate and repair faults beneath the
ground. About 2 miles of underground distribution cable will be
replaced in Quail Acres in Washington
County at a cost of about $480,000. In the Saybrook Village subdivision near Greensburg, about $160,000 will be spent to install more than 1
mile of underground cable and new above-ground junction boxes
outfitted with fuses to limit the scope of outages. In the Tyhurst
development near Charleroi, a half
mile of underground cable will be installed at a cost of about
$20,000.
- Replacing batteries in 15 distribution substations throughout
West Penn Power's service area at a cost of about $230,000 to provide back-up power for controls
and relays during outages.
- Installing new arrestors to protect transformers from lightning
damage in 29 substations throughout West Penn Power's service area
at a cost of $120,000.
The LTIIP work is included in the $235
million in infrastructure projects for 2017 previously
announced to help enhance service reliability for customers in West
Penn Power's 24-county service area.
West Penn Power, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE),
serves about 720,000 customers in 24 Pennsylvania counties.
Follow West Penn Power on Twitter @W_Penn_Power and on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/WestPennPower.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational
excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one
of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving
customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, West Virginia,
Maryland and New York. The
company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,000 miles
of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
regions. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or
online at www.firstenergycorp.com.
Editor's Note: Photos of similar equipment being
installed as part of West Penn Power's Long-Term Infrastructure
Improvement Plan are available for download on Flickr.
Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes
forward-looking statements based on information currently available
to management. Such statements are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties. These statements include declarations regarding
management's intents, beliefs and current expectations. These
statements typically contain, but are not limited to, the terms
"anticipate," "potential," "expect," "forecast," "target," "will,"
"intend," "believe," "project," "estimate," "plan" and similar
words. Forward-looking statements involve estimates, assumptions,
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, which may
include the following: the ability to experience growth in the
Regulated Distribution and Regulated Transmission segments and the
effectiveness of our strategy to transition to a fully regulated
business profile; the accomplishment of our regulatory and
operational goals in connection with our transmission investment
plan, including, but not limited to, our planned transition to
forward-looking formula rates; changes in assumptions regarding
economic conditions within our territories, assessment of the
reliability of our transmission system, or the availability of
capital or other resources supporting identified transmission
investment opportunities; the ability to accomplish or realize
anticipated benefits from strategic and financial goals, including,
but not limited to, the ability to continue to reduce costs and to
successfully execute our financial plans designed to improve our
credit metrics and strengthen our balance sheet; success of
legislative and regulatory solutions for generation assets that
recognize their environmental or energy security benefits,
including the United States Department of Energy study; the risks
and uncertainties associated with the lack of viable alternative
strategies regarding the Competitive Energy Services (CES) segment,
thereby causing FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. (FES), and likely
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), to restructure its
debt and other financial obligations with its creditors or seek
protection under United States
bankruptcy laws and the losses, liabilities and claims arising from
such bankruptcy proceeding, including any obligations at
FirstEnergy Corp.; the risks and uncertainties at the CES segment,
including FES and its subsidiaries and FENOC, related to continued
depressed wholesale energy and capacity markets, and the viability
and/or success of strategic business alternatives, such as pending
and potential CES generating unit asset sales, the potential
conversion of the remaining generation fleet from competitive
operations to a regulated or regulated-like construct or the
potential need to deactivate additional generating units; the
substantial uncertainty as to FES' ability to continue as a going
concern and substantial risk that it may be necessary for FES, and
likely FENOC, to seek protection under United States bankruptcy laws; the risks and
uncertainties associated with litigation, arbitration, mediation
and like proceedings, including, but not limited to, any such
proceedings related to vendor commitments, such as long-term fuel
and transportation agreements; the uncertainties associated with
the deactivation of older regulated and competitive units,
including the impact on vendor commitments, such as long-term fuel
and transportation agreements, and as it relates to the reliability
of the transmission grid, the timing thereof; the impact of other
future changes to the operational status or availability of our
generating units and any capacity performance charges associated
with unit unavailability; changing energy, capacity and commodity
market prices including, but not limited to, coal, natural gas and
oil prices, and their availability and impact on margins; costs
being higher than anticipated and the success of our policies to
control costs and to mitigate low energy, capacity and market
prices; replacement power costs being higher than anticipated or
not fully hedged; our ability to improve electric commodity margins
and the impact of, among other factors, the increased cost of fuel
and fuel transportation on such margins; the uncertainty of the
timing and amounts of the capital expenditures that may arise in
connection with any litigation, including New Source Review
litigation, or potential regulatory initiatives or rulemakings
(including that such initiatives or rulemakings could result in our
decision to deactivate or idle certain generating units); changes
in customers' demand for power, including, but not limited to,
changes resulting from the implementation of state and federal
energy efficiency and peak demand reduction mandates; economic or
weather conditions affecting future sales and margins such as a
polar vortex or other significant weather events, and all
associated regulatory events or actions; changes in national and
regional economic conditions affecting us, our subsidiaries and/or
our major industrial and commercial customers, and other
counterparties with which we do business, including fuel suppliers;
the impact of labor disruptions by our unionized workforce; the
risks associated with cyber-attacks and other disruptions to our
information technology system that may compromise our generation,
transmission and/or distribution services and data security
breaches of sensitive data, intellectual property and proprietary
or personally identifiable information regarding our business,
employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, business partners
and other individuals in our data centers and on our networks; the
impact of the regulatory process and resulting outcomes on the
matters at the federal level and in the various states in which we
do business including, but not limited to, matters related to
rates; the impact of the federal regulatory process on Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)-regulated entities and
transactions, in particular FERC regulation of wholesale energy and
capacity markets, including PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM)
markets and FERC-jurisdictional wholesale transactions; FERC
regulation of cost-of-service rates; and FERC's compliance and
enforcement activity, including compliance and enforcement activity
related to North American Electric Reliability Corporation's
mandatory reliability standards; the uncertainties of various cost
recovery and cost allocation issues resulting from American
Transmission Systems, Incorporated's realignment into PJM; the
ability to comply with applicable state and federal reliability
standards and energy efficiency and peak demand reduction mandates;
other legislative and regulatory changes, including the new federal
administration's required review and potential revision of
environmental requirements, including, but not limited to, the
effects of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's
Clean Power Plan, Coal Combustion Residuals regulations,
Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and Mercury and Air Toxics Standards
programs, including our estimated costs of compliance, Clean Water
Act (CWA) waste water effluent limitations for power plants, and
CWA 316(b) water intake regulation; adverse regulatory or legal
decisions and outcomes with respect to our nuclear operations
(including, but not limited to, the revocation or non-renewal of
necessary licenses, approvals or operating permits by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission or as a result of the incident at
Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Plant); issues arising from the indications of cracking in the
shield building at Davis-Besse; changing market conditions that
could affect the measurement of certain liabilities and the value
of assets held in our Nuclear Decommissioning Trusts, pension
trusts and other trust funds, and cause us and/or our subsidiaries
to make additional contributions sooner, or in amounts that are
larger than currently anticipated; the impact of changes to
significant accounting policies; the impact of any changes in tax
laws or regulations or adverse tax audit results or rulings; the
ability to access the public securities and other capital and
credit markets in accordance with our financial plans, the cost of
such capital and overall condition of the capital and credit
markets affecting us and our subsidiaries; further actions that may
be taken by credit rating agencies that could negatively affect us
and/or our subsidiaries' access to financing, increase the costs
thereof, increase requirements to post additional collateral to
support, or accelerate payments under outstanding commodity
positions, letters of credit and other financial guarantees, and
the impact of these events on the financial condition and liquidity
of FirstEnergy Corp. and/or its subsidiaries, specifically FES and
its subsidiaries; issues concerning the stability of domestic and
foreign financial institutions and counterparties with which we do
business; and the risks and other factors discussed from time to
time in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
filings, and other similar factors. Dividends declared from time to
time on FirstEnergy Corp.'s common stock during any period may in
the aggregate vary from prior periods due to circumstances
considered by FirstEnergy Corp.'s Board of Directors at the time of
the actual declarations. A security rating is not a recommendation
to buy or hold securities and is subject to revision or withdrawal
at any time by the assigning rating agency. Each rating should be
evaluated independently of any other rating. These forward-looking
statements are also qualified by, and should be read in conjunction
with the other cautionary statements and risks that are included in
our filings with the SEC, including but not limited to the most
recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q. The foregoing review of factors also should
not be construed as exhaustive. New factors emerge from time to
time, and it is not possible for management to predict all such
factors, nor assess the impact of any such factor on our business
or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may
cause results to differ materially from those contained in any
forward-looking statements. We expressly disclaim any current
intention to update, except as required by law, any forward-looking
statements contained herein as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.