JCP&L Meeting Explosive Growth with Multi-Pronged Ocean County Plan

Core Insights - Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) is investing $108 million through 2028 to enhance the electric grid in Ocean County, New Jersey, to meet increasing energy demands and improve reliability [1][2][7] Investment Details - The initial phase includes $21 million in upgrades for 2025, which involves adding two new transformers and upgrading an existing one at a local substation [3] - An additional $29 million will be invested from 2026 to 2028 as part of the New Jersey Reliability Improvement Project, focusing on enhancing reliability in areas with a history of outages [4] - A further $58 million is allocated for upgrades through 2028 under the EnergizeNJ program, which aims to modernize the grid and improve system resiliency [5] Population and Demand Growth - Ocean County's population has increased by nearly 30,000 residents from 2020 to 2024, leading to a surge in energy demand [2] - Businesses and developers have requested over 50 megawatts (MW) of new connections in the past year, sufficient to power approximately 50,000 homes [2] System Enhancements - Upgrades will include stronger power lines and the installation of automatic transfer devices to improve service reliability during outages [4][6] - More than 200 new "TripSaver" devices will be added to automatically restore power during temporary outages [6] Long-term Strategy - JCP&L's initiatives are part of FirstEnergy's broader Energize365 program, which plans to invest $28 billion from 2025 to 2029 to modernize the electric grid [7] - The goal is to create a smarter and more secure grid that can accommodate current and future customer needs [7]