PSE&G President: Upgrades Mean Faster Repairs, Improved Communication with Customers

After Hurricane Sandy left millions of PSE&G customers in the dark, the utility company hasannounced plans to spend nearly $4 billion to upgrade its systems. PSE&G President and COO Ralph LaRossa told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that the upgrades will provide the utility with better information, allowing for faster repairs and better communication with customers. He also said because of the timing, it won’t cost customers more money in their bills.

“We filed with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities for $3.9 billion of investment that we’ll make over a 10-year time frame. And in addition to that, there’s about $1.5 billion that we need to make on a transmission system to upgrade those facilities. And that we’ll be filing with FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission],” LaRossa said.

The large price tag isn’t arbitrary, according to LaRossa. He said PSE&G based the estimates on engineering analysis of FEMA flood maps. Half of PSE&G customers were affected by flooding of substations and the other half were impacted by the overhead system, according to LaRossa.

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