JCPL Officially Files with BPU Asking Approval for Power Line Project

Jersey Central Power & Light officially filed its long-awaited petition with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) Tuesday. The filing is a formal request from JCP&L, asking the powerful state Board to approve construction of a new, 10-mile long 230-kV transmission line built along the North Jersey Coast railroad tracks between Aberdeen and Red Bank.

The entire petition is available here for public review, and the BPU will next schedule a public hearing on the matter.

If the state OKs the transmission line, nicknamed by JCP&L the Monmouth County Reliability Project, the electric company says it will result in a stronger, modernized electrical system and reduce power outages for nearly 214,000 customers in Monmouth County. However, the Monmouth County Reliability Project is extremely controversial and hundreds of people in Aberdeen, Matawan, Holmdel, Hazlet, Middletown and Red Bank are vehemently opposed to the project, to the point where homeowners have cried in frustration at public meetings. Monmouth County Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, Hazlet Mayor Scott Aagre, Holmdel Mayor Eric Hinds and Middletown Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger have all come out against it. JCP&L admits it has responded to approximately 380 inquiries about the project.

Construction would begin next August

If approved, construction is expected to begin in August 2017, and service would start in June 2019, JCP&L said.

As Patch has reported, PJM Interconnection, LLC, the manager of the electric power grid in 13 states and the District of Columbia, has recommended the Monmouth County project be built.

The petition, written by JCP&L, describes the need for the project, the route selection process, and JCP&L’s plans for complying with regulations and obtaining necessary state and federal permits, which the company says will protect the health and safety of the public and the environment. In July, Dr. David Carpenter, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Albany, told Monmouth County residents they should be worried about radiation from the power lines. In the petition there is also a real estate study JCP&L did that says the project won’t impact area property values — something Assemblywoman Handlin and many others have disputed. In fact, also in July, at a Township meeting in Holmdel, Handlin predicted a 30% reduction in property values for homes near the transmission lines.