Penelec, a FirstEnergy Corp. electric utility, is completing work in Clarion County designed to enhance electric service reliability for about 2800 customers in parts of Shippenville, Marianne Estates, Knox, Lucinda and Leeper in Pennsylvania.
"The distribution system work we've undertaken across northern Clarion County will help reduce the frequency and duration of electric service interruptions experienced by our customers, particularly during severe weather and other events like vehicle accidents," said Scott Wyman, president of FirstEnergy's Pennsylvania operations. "These projects are designed to enhance electric service reliability for customers by proactively replacing equipment with new infrastructure that will accommodate both current needs and future load growth."
The work includes replacing 66 utility poles, 155 cross-arms and 550 insulators, as well as replacing aging copper wire with modern aluminum wire along a 6-mile stretch of power line from the intersection of Bus Mong Road and State Route 322 north of Knox to the intersection of State Routes 322 and 66 east of Shippenville. The new aluminum wire can transport more electricity and will help improve voltage in the Shippenville and Marianne Estates communities and support future growth in the area.
Additionally, manually operated switches on the line were replaced with remote-control devices, allowing system operators to quickly isolate damage and transfer customers to a backup power source to reduce the number of customers impacted by service interruptions and shorten their duration.
Penelec is also upgrading equipment on a 17-mile power line connecting an electrical substation south of Shippenville to a substation near Crown, including replacing 54 poles, 140 cross-arms and 470 insulators. The upgrades will help enhance the reliability of electric service for Penelec customers as well as customers of the United Electric Cooperative at Leeper and the Central Electric Cooperative at Lucinda, whose systems are fed by the line.
The multimillion-dollar reliability-improvement work started in late 2021 and is expected to conclude in March. The work is part of Penelec's Long Term Infrastructure Improvement Plan (LTIIP II), a five-year, US$ 200 million initiative to enhance electric service reliability for the company's 585,000 customers.
