Under the $34m expansion project, the company will install specialized voltage-regulating equipment that can respond to real-time electrical conditions while boosting or reducing voltage, as needed, thus maintaining consistent levels on the regional transmission network.
FirstEnergy will add new capacitor banks, circuit breakers, communications equipment and a control building as well as deploy four massive electrical transformers, each weighing about 173,000lbs.
FirstEnergy Maryland Operations president James Sears said: "Adding voltage support is just one of the things we do to help ensure the reliable flow of power from one substation to another.
"With many of our customers using advanced equipment that is sensitive to voltage fluctuations, our new equipment is a cost-effective option to help maintain consistent power levels throughout our system."
Scheduled to be completed in October, the project is expected to benefit more than 125,000 Potomac Edison customers in Frederick city, eastern Frederick County, and western Montgomery County.
The project is a part of the company’s efforts to invest $128m in 2015 in Potomac Edison’s service area in western Maryland and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, to help enhance service reliability and also address future load growth.
Around $22m will be spent on transmission-related projects owned by the Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line Company, a FirstEnergy transmission affiliate.
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