Atlantic City Electric has been approved for a $93.1 million project called Powering the Future. The project will modernize and enhance the local energy grid in South Jersey over the next four years.
The project includes 22 specific projects that are important for expanding the local energy grid’s capacity to support the connection of more solar and clean energy technologies. This will improve system reliability and utilize smarter technologies to strengthen the grid against severe storms.
Powering the Future is a continuation of Atlantic City Electric’s efforts to modernize the local energy grid, improve service reliability for numerous customers, and support the growth of distributed energy resources like solar power. The company has already assisted nearly 50,000 customers in connecting their solar PV systems, and this program aims to expand that effort. It will create new opportunities for residential solar interconnection, enabling around 16,000 additional residential solar arrays in most areas. Additionally, Atlantic City Electric is implementing other upgrades that will extend solar interconnection access to over 50,000 customers.
The project encompasses four main categories:
- Solar/Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Enablement: This category focuses on expanding the local energy grid’s capacity to integrate clean energy technologies, including solar power and other distributed energy resources, in line with the state’s clean energy and climate objectives.
- Targeted Reliability Improvements: These projects are aimed at enhancing grid reliability by addressing areas with frequent power outages or implementing redundancy measures to minimize the impact of outages.
- Smart Technology Upgrades: This category involves enhancing the communication network and associated devices to reduce the frequency and duration of power outages.
- Substation Improvements: Various substations in Atlantic City Electric’s service area will undergo upgrades to modernize infrastructure and critical equipment, ensuring improved reliability and resilience against extreme weather events.
Through Powering the Future and previous investments, Atlantic City Electric has made significant strides in making the local energy grid smarter, stronger, and cleaner. These efforts have led to the lowest frequency of electric outages in the company’s history, resulting in improved service reliability for customers. Despite the rising occurrence and severity of storms, the frequency of electric outages for Atlantic City Electric customers has decreased by over 75% since 2012.
The project will begin in July 2023 and will be funded by gradual rate adjustments over a four-year period. The total monthly bill for an average residential customer consuming 680 kV hours will increase by approximately $1.22 or 0.84% over the course of the four years.
