Penelec, a FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary, recently began the replacement of a power line between Dushore and New Albany in Sullivan County. The five-mile-long, 34.5-kilovolt line will conduct more than twice as much electricity as the line it replaces.
“This project will help us keep power flowing reliably to nearly 4,000 Penelec customers and 3,400 customers of the neighboring Sullivan County Rural Electric Cooperative (REC),” Scott Wyman, FirstEnergy president of Pennsylvania operations, said. “This all-new line will provide added flexibility to operate our local electric grid. If one of the other two 34.5- kilovolt lines that supplies electricity to the area’s distribution network is damaged by severe weather, a vehicle accident or other cause, the rebuilt line will have the capacity to provide continued electric service for more customers while crews make repairs.”
In addition, the line will provide greater flexibility for line workers to quickly restore electric service after storms or other outages by allowing crews to temporarily reconfigure the electrical network.
The new line has a larger diameter aluminum wire than the one it is replacing and also is heavier. Crews will attach it to wooden poles 50 feet tall, five feet taller than the existing poles.