JCP&L Completes Underwater Power Line Replacement Project

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ – Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) recently replaced an underwater high-voltage transmission line that stretched more than a mile across Barnegat Bay along the Tunney-Mathis Bridges to strengthen the electric reliability to New Jersey's barrier islands.

Recent dredging operations are believed to have damaged the underwater transmission line that ran through the area. The new 34.5-kilovolt line is one of four high-voltage power sources serving approximately 30,000 JCP&L customers on the barrier islands, including the communities of Point Pleasant Beach, Bay Head, Mantoloking, Normandy Beach, Brick, Lavallette, Dover/Toms River, Ortley Beach, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park, Berkeley and Island Beach State Park.

The new line now safely sits 10 feet below the bay. Each of the three cables that make up the line is wrapped with 28 strands of aluminum armor wire, providing robust protection and eliminating the need for a bundled armor casing commonly used in underwater power line projects.

"This project supports our commitment to using new, innovative ways to improve service reliability by utilizing an emerging technology that placed the submarine line in a safer location while also minimizing the work's impact on the bay's fragile ecosystem," Jim Fakult, president of JCP&L, said in a statement.

"The new line helps ensure that our barrier island customers will have the reliable service they need in these peak summer months."