PECO Boosts Delaware County's Electric Infrastructure

The Facts -

PECO's Infrastructure Investments for 2024 to Improve Electric Reliability in Delaware County

Image via PECO.

Delaware County will see the impact of PECO's ongoing infrastructure investments with 78 electric reliability projects planned for 2024.

This news coincides with National Infrastructure Week, a nationwide event by the nonprofit United for Infrastructure. The event aims to raise awareness about the importance of infrastructure improvements and showcases PECO's commitment to providing safe and reliable service to all customers in the region.

In Delaware County, PECO's multimillion-dollar investment aims to prevent customer outages, modernize the electric grid, and reduce the impact of extreme weather on electric infrastructure throughout 2024.

Over the next five years, PECO plans to invest roughly $9.3 billion across its electric and natural gas systems. This will cover targeted system enhancements, corrective maintenance, new equipment, equipment inspection, and necessary vegetation management. These proactive measures will help meet the growing energy demands of customers and support future growth and development.

The planned projects for Delaware County in 2024 include:

• Enhancement of the local electric distribution system in Tinicum Township to meet present energy needs by retiring an older substation and upgrading equipment.
• Replacement of underground electric equipment to improve electric reliability in Haverford.
• Aerial electric cable and equipment replacement in Middletown Township to reduce the number of outages.

PECO's vice president of Projects and Contracts, Bill Patterer, regards these strategic investments as critical to meeting the needs of residential and business customers across Delaware County.

PECO is also making strides in system reliability by installing specialized equipment known as reclosers that can automatically restore service or isolate damage. In 2023 alone, they installed 127 new reclosers, bringing the total to 3,472 systemwide, avoiding approximately 6.89 million power interruptions for customers.

In 2023, PECO customers experienced the lowest power outage rate in company history, with 86 percent of customers experiencing zero or one outage. When outages did occur, power was safely restored within an average of just 90 minutes.

PECO's investment in regional infrastructure boosts job opportunities in southeastern Pennsylvania. Their dedicated Workforce Development team works to enhance employability in their service communities, particularly among the underserved, by creating job opportunities both internally and externally.

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