PECO officials say they are planning to invest heavily in Bucks County.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
After nasty winter storms knocked out power parts of the region for up to a week, PECO said recently that they’ll be working to reduce outages in the area. In the eastern part of Bucks County, including Falls and Lower Makefield townships, the utility plans to invest $10 million in work over the next year, PECO spokesman Greg Smore said.
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Officials from the utility will present details on the project Thursday evening starting at 7 p.m. at Pennwood Middle School, 1523 Makefield Road in Lower Makefield. Smore said plans for the project would be outlined and questions are able to be presented by the public.
According to PECO:
Although these outages had different causes, including weather and vegetation interference, we are dedicated to reducing power outages in the area. We have completed a thorough review and analysis and have identified ways to improve service to your area. To enhance reliability, we are investing about $10 million in projects in your immediate area that will occur this year and into early 2015. This work is in addition to nearly $600 million invested annually to improve our electric and natural gas systems through equipment upgrades and preventative maintenance.
The work set for eastern Bucks County includes:
- Enhanced tree trimming and vegetation removal along more than 43 miles of aerial lines throughout the area
- 17,700 feet of new aerial wire, including 8,300 feet of tree-resistant wire installed in targeted locations
- Advanced equipment and upgrades to existing devices to reduce the number of customers impacted when outages do occur
- 24 pieces of equipment to help isolate issues and restore service more quickly
- New substation transformer and enhancements to an adjacent transformer
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Smore said weather-related outages can’t always be prevented, but upgrades like those planned for the area will increase the likelihood the lights will stay on.
Local officials from towns in the Levittown area have questioned PECO over the past few months after several long-lasting outages. Due to the frequent outages in winter, the ShopRite in Fairless Hills added a generator to the store recently, according to a store official.
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“We hope to improve service for the area,” Smore said of the project’s goal.
