Two PPL Electric
Utilities projects designed to boost service
reliability in Monroe and Carbon counties are now in
operation and serving customers.
Together, the Effort Mountain and Appenzell projects
represent an investment of more than $15 million in the
region's electric delivery system.
Both projects include new substations and new connections
to an existing transmission line in the region. A
substation switches, changes or regulates electric voltage,
often reducing that voltage for local distribution to homes
and businesses.
The Effort Mountain project is located in the area of
Effort, Jonas and Sun Valley in Chestnuthill and Polk
townships in Monroe County and Penn Forest Township in
Carbon County. Crews built the new substation on Reynolds
Road in Chestnuthill Township and built a new 6-mile line
to connect the substation to an existing transmission line
in the region.
In the Appenzell project, a new substation was built along
Route 715 at Mountain Road in Jackson Township in Monroe to
provide an additional source of electricity for local
customers. A new 2-mile line was built to connect that
substation to the same area transmission line tapped by the
Effort Mountain project.
"These projects were needed in this area, and they're part
of our ongoing commitment to invest in the system that
delivers power to our customers. They will provide
increased reliability and reduce the duration and extent of
outages, should they occur," said Paul Canevari, regional
community relations director for PPL.
The projects were designed and built in consultation with
the public. PPL Electric Utilities held numerous open
houses for each project to solicit community input on the
line routes that were eventually selected. In addition, the
projects were reviewed and approved by the Public Utility
Commission.
In the Effort project, working with community stakeholders
enabled a line adjustment and an expansion of a local
nature preserve.
Under a 2010 pact with the Pocono Heritage Land Trust, PPL
Electric Utilities agreed to purchase a 123-acre tract
subsequently acquired by the land trust. The land is
adjacent to the trust's Jonas Mountain Nature Preserve and
allowed the preserve to expand by more than 40 percent. The
land trust agreed to allow the power line to cross its
land, a move that allowed the line to be placed farther
from the Birch Hollow Estates development.
Key to the deal was a $435,000 open space grant from Monroe
County to the land trust.
PPL Electric Utilities plans to invest $3.4 billion from
2011-15 to strengthen, renew and modernize the electric
delivery system across its 29-county service territory in
central and eastern Pennsylvania.
For more information on major improvement projects and
other efforts to keep electric service safe and reliable,
visit www.pplreliablepower.com.
PPL Electric Utilities, a subsidiary of PPL
Corporation (NYSE: PPL), provides electric delivery
services to about 1.4 million customers in Pennsylvania and
has consistently ranked among the best companies for
customer service in the United States.www.pplelectric.com.
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