Orange City

Orange City – 69kV

Reliability Project Overview

PSE&G is currently conducting statewide electric reliability improvements to its utility infrastructure. These enhancements will improve both electric service reliability and system redundancy to ensure safe and reliable service to our customers. Throughout the state of New Jersey, PSE&G infrastructure upgrades will reduce the demand on the existing 26kV network. The projects will install 69kV transmission circuits connecting PSE&G stations around the state.

Activity Overview

  • New 69kV circuits will connect the Orange Heights Substation on South Jefferson in the city of Orange to the Toney’s Brook on Washington Ave in Bloomfield, Lakeside Substation in East Orange and Central Avenue Substation in Newark.
  • The existing utility poles have been replaced with taller, sturdier poles that combine new 69kV circuits with existing 26kV, 13kV, or 4kV circuits along Joyce Street, Valley Road, Freeman Street, South Jefferson Street, Tompkins Street, Linden Place, Ridge Street, White Street, and North Jefferson Street in Orange.
  • Vegetation Management activity such as tree trimming or tree removals may occur in order to allow for the safe installation of new equipment.
  • The project is estimated to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2024.
  • PSE&G will work with the city of Orange Police to keep traffic impacts to a minimum.

Construction Activity – 2nd QTR 2024

Crews are working on completing the installation of station walls, including the wall lighting.  Work hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and some work may take place on Saturdays.  For more information, please call the project hotline at 1-800-901-5035.

Crews have completed the installation of new utility poles for the new 69kV circuits in Orange.

Email Us

Frequently Asked Questions

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Parts of our current electric system were built for life in the 1960s. A modern network is needed to meet the increased electric demands and reliability expectations of the 21st century.

  • Increased power capacity: With 300% more capacity, the new lines will better support our modern, technology-driven lifestyles, including work-at-home schedules, increased electronics usage, and expanding electric vehicle adoption.
  • Fewer and shorter outages: Smart sensors and relays will be added to automatically detect problems and redirect the flow
    of electricity, reducing outages and expediting restorations.
  • Supporting clean energy: A smarter grid will connect customers with renewables like solar and offshore wind. A more
    robust electric network is vital to New Jersey’s clean energy vision.

69kV electric lines are the standard of the 21st century. They will ultimately replace and enhance a 50+ year-old system built on 26kV lines, increasing reliability, capacity and safety. 

Existing pole lines carry 4kV, 13kV or 26kV lines. The replacement pole line will carry the existing lines plus a new 69kV line for added reliability and capacity, as well as lightning protection.

Building the 69kV utility lines underground is six to seven times more expensive than typical utility pole construction. The additional expense does not include burying any of the existing electric service lines, telecommunication, and cable. PSE&G is an overhead utility, meaning that power lines are built overhead where feasible. The vast majority of 69kV lines built by PSE&G since 2007 are overhead. Lines are built underground only when engineering determines it is necessary, such as crossing a railroad, highway or river.

If our engineering indicates that overhead construction is feasible and a municipality requests that a line be installed underground, the municipality must pay for the cost differential.

Since 2007, PSE&G has updated more than 575 miles of power lines in almost 100 towns. Over the next several years, PSE&G will replace 400 miles of power lines and equipment that is 50+ years old.