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Allentown, PA, June 19, 2008 -- PPL Electric Utilities is upgrading its transmission system with a new power line and seeking public comment on where it should be placed. PPL said the upgrade is needed to provide reliable power amid rising customer demand.
The independent regional electricity transmission organization, PJM Interconnection, has determined that this new 500-kilovolt power line is needed between the Berwick area of Pennsylvania and the Roseland area of New Jersey. PJM oversees reliability planning for the grid and has assigned PPL Electric Utilities the responsibility to build the Pennsylvania portion of the line.
PJM has determined that if this upgrade to the electric delivery system is not made by May 2012, there is the potential for overloads on existing power lines and blackouts.
PPL Electric Utilities has conducted a study of eastern and northeastern Pennsylvania and selected three possible routes for the Pennsylvania portion of the line. (A map of these routes can be found at www.pplreliablepower.com.)
Eight public input workshops have been scheduled in communities near the three possible routes. Where practical, the possible routes follow paths of existing PPL Electric Utilities power lines or where the company owns property or property rights.
Property owners in a 1,000-foot corridor along each possible route have been mailed letters with details of the routes and an invitation to attend one of the workshops. The public will also be allowed to attend.
PPL Electric Utilities expects to select a preferred route about a month after the public input sessions end, and expects to propose that route for approval to the PUC later this year. The PUC review process, which also includes input from the public, could take as long as a year.
The cost of new regional power lines will be shared by all electric customers in the PJM area, a region of 51 million people encompassing 13 states and the District of Columbia. The Pennsylvania portion of the line is projected to cost between $300 million and $500 million.
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