JCP&L’s Power Line Project: It’s Time For the Public To Be Heard

Neighbors: The one and only Public Hearing regarding JCP&L’s heavily-opposed Monmouth County ‘Reliability’ Project will be held Wednesday, Jan. 25, 7 p.m., at Middletown North High School.
Judge Gail Cookson will consider public comments as she evaluates JCP&L’s plan to install 10 miles of new 230kv power lines on 110 to 210-ft tall monopoles within the NJ TRANSIT North Jersey Coast Line railroad corridor, between Aberdeen and Red Bank.
After 7 months of research, I and others can attest that this project is not about electric reliability. It is a power company leveraging loopholes in a ‘regulated monopoly’ to drive profit for their shareholders, not for any public benefit. And it will have devastating consequences.
1. Demand is down. NJ electricity demand has decreased since 2011 (when JCP&L received the grid operator’s OK for this project), due to energy efficiencies and alternative energy sources.
2. This won’t fix our power outages. Our existing main and backup transmission line have worked 99.99 percent for 20 years. Power outages – including Irene and Sandy – are due to distribution lines from substations to our homes. This line will not benefit us often, if ever.
3. Guaranteed $$ for JCP&L’s parent, First Energy. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) underwrites pre-set rates of economic return for transmission projects. Who pays? You and I, via rate increases. Captive customers can’t easily switch transmission providers to show discontent.
4. This project is unprecedented. We are guinea pigs. If there were a need for a new transmission line, the route proposed has never been undertaken. JCP&L admits no other example of a high voltage power line of this size, inches from an active rail line, within spitting distance of thousands of homes, and directly over thousands of train passengers and employees daily, exists any- where in the USA.
5. Vintage solutions won’t fix this. JCP&L withdrew this same project in 1989 due to fierce opposition. Many utilities have addressed grid reliability with 21st century technology, yet First Energy, JCP&L’s parent company, clings to old-school thinking that puts profit above all else. This project is the perfect example.
6. The project’s impact will impact generations. Expect property values to tank due to massive aesthetic changes to our neighborhoods, perceived health risks, 24/7 buzzing, removal of hun- dreds of acres of trees, and risks of falling monopoles, live wires, along with train safety concerns. If JCP&L wins, millions of dollars from our pockets tip a domino that will lead to the long-term devastation of our communities.