More than 31 projects are underway to enhance electric service reliability and system resiliency throughout the county

PHILADELPHIA (May 19, 2022) — PECO is executing a multi-million dollar investment in Delaware County to help prevent customer outages, modernize the electric grid, and reduce the impact of extreme weather on electric infrastructure in 2022.

During the next five years, PECO will invest approximately $6 billion across its electric and natural gas systems to inspect equipment, complete targeted infrastructure enhancements and corrective maintenance, invest in new equipment, and perform vegetation management work. Additionally, the investment includes PECO's Reliability & Resiliency Plan, which will help prevent customer outages, modernize the electric grid, and reduce the impact of extreme weather on electric infrastructure.

These efforts include 31 projects across Delaware County in 2022, some of which include:

• Upper Darby: replacing all wires, cables, poles, devices and transformers in addition to tree trimming and tree removals to promote safety and reliability. PECO is also modernizing infrastructure to support clean energy, like solar and electric vehicles. 
• Eddystone: upgrading and installing new cable and equipment to reduce the frequency of outages and minimize their duration.
• Haverford: replacing approximately 5,000 feet of tree-resistant aerial cable to improve reliability issues and reduce future outage events.  
  

To further enhance reliability and maintain power to customers, PECO actively installs specialized equipment, known as reclosers, that can automatically restore service or isolate damage. In 2021 alone, 269 new reclosers were installed, bringing the total to 3,250 system wide. During the past five years, these reclosers have avoided approximately 4.6 million power interruptions for customers.    

"Our customers are at the forefront of everything we do, which is why we're prioritizing this strategic investment plan to ensure safe and reliable service for customers to better withstand extreme weather and pave the way for clean energy resources," said Nicole Levine, PECO's Vice President of Electric Operations. "Modernizing our energy infrastructure is critical to meeting the needs for thousands of residential and business customers across Delaware County."

Enhancing energy infrastructure to make it more resilient in the face of intensifying weather patterns is a key element of PECO's Path to Clean, which includes a goal for PECO and the collective Exelon utilities to reduce operations-driven emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

In addition to targeted reliability-focused infrastructure investments, PECO is committed to helping customers by providing a multitude of programs to manage their energy costs and save money. In Delaware County specifically, PECO observed more than 33,200 enrollments across its suite of programs, totaling over $20 million in financial assistance in 2021. 

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