The following letter is from Ronnie Town, External Affairs Manager for Atlantic City Electric, dated April 9, 2021.
Download the FACT SHEET for this project
Dear Customer:
At Atlantic City Electric, we work each day to provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy service for our customers. We are seeing the impacts of more frequent and more severe storms and, to confront this, we are working to modernize and strengthen the local energy grid across South Jersey.
As part of this broader effort to better serve our customers and modernize our infrastructure, we are upgrading an important transmission line in your community. The planned project includes:
- Rebuilding a critical transmission line running through Upper and Dennis townshipsto improve reliability for customers and meet the region’s current and future energy needs.
- Replacing existing lattice transmission tower structures with new, stronger utility polesand installing more modern equipment that will improve the resiliency of the local energy grid.
This project will enhance energy service reliability for about 30,000 of our Cape May County customers. As part of this work, we are upgrading approximately 10.2 miles of critical transmission line along our existing right-of-way from Beesley’s Point in Upper Township to Ocean View in Dennis Township. The existing line was originally built in the late 1950s and is currently comprised of aging tower structures that must be replaced. We will replace the towers with state-of-the-art steel utility poles, capable of withstanding hurricane force winds up to 120 mph. These upgrades will strengthen and modernize our energy infrastructure in the region, leading to fewer storm-related outages and better reliability for customers.
Project construction is expected to begin in September 2021 and be completed by May 2022. During the coming weeks, we will be staking the areas we expect the new transmission poles may be placed along the existing transmission line route. In the spring and summer, our contracted crews will prepare the area for the project and will be performing tree-trimming and vegetation management near the existing transmission line to further enhance service reliability for local customers.
We are committed to minimizing potential impacts on local traffic, businesses and the community, and we will continue to work with you and keep you updated about our activities. We understand that our construction activity may impact you at times. Please know that we will make every effort to minimize disruptions and impacts to the community and will restore all areas affected by construction. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding.
Should you have questions about this reliability project, please contact us at 888-530-2047 or . Please leave your name, phone number and a brief message, and we will respond within 24 business hours.
Sincerely,
Ronnie Town
External Affairs Manager
Atlantic City Electric