Electric Upgrade Misses Deadline, Done by June 30?

STONE HARBOR – Nearly 40 attended an early morning meeting of Stone Harbor Borough Council May 31 expecting to participate in a question-and-answer session with representatives of Atlantic City Electric (ACE). 
No representatives from the utility attended citing a need to avoid public discussion of the project while defending against a lawsuit.
ACE’s project to bring an upgraded power infrastructure to the Seven Mile Island was to be completed before the opening of the season on Memorial Day Weekend. The special meeting was called to have the utility’s representatives explain why the project requires work to extend into June.
ACE undertook an infrastructure project to upgrade the power on the island and provide a redundant system capable of greater resiliency in the face of potential storm damage. The project involved transmission lines fed from two locations along Avalon and Stone Harbor boulevards along with a new substation at 60th Street in Avalon.
The use of large steel poles, required by new standards, according to ACE, led to significant opposition from an organized group of property owners who want the cables buried as they traverse the borough. A class-action suit against the utility followed.
Mayor Suzanne Walters and Borough Administrator Jill Gougher were left the task of informing the public about what the utility states is the remaining work on the project. Unexpected difficulties with the transmission lines that come from Middle Township and go underground for a portion of 95th Street have delayed the project completion by about three to four weeks. A part of the problem was attributed to heavy rains this spring.
Borough Solicitor Marcus Karavan explained that ACE reports a need for two additional weeks for conduit installation, two additional weeks for pulling the cable through the conduit, and a final estimated five days for connection of the transmission lines to the new infrastructure. Some work will overlap, leaving ACE promising to have it completed by the end of June.
The new substation is functional and supplying power to the island, but without the completion of the feed through Stone Harbor, the planned redundancy would not exist. A significant problem with the single power transmission system arriving through Avalon would cause outages of undetermined length.
Residents used the meeting’s comment period to voice strong feelings about the utility and the project. They spoke of what they saw as ACE’s continuous duplicity throughout the project.
Residents of 95th Street recounted weeks of noise, vibrations, and activity that, they claimed, has destroyed their quality of life. Those in opposition to the poles argued that ACE has been untruthful from the start, essentially blackmailing the borough into permitting the installation of poles that “desecrate” the island. Many on the council joined in the complaints about the company’s handling of the project.
In the end, most of the public expressed a desire to have the company continue the project in June to “get it over with.” The prospect of the utility halting now and returning in September was the worst of two unappealing options.
Council adopted a resolution that calls on Atlantic City Electric to have sufficient backup generator power onsite to support the borough’s needs until the redundant lines are in place and operational.
The resolution also called for daily updates on progress so council would be aware of a need to revisit the issue if work appeared to slip past the end of June and into the all-important July 4 start of the heaviest part of the summer season.
Lastly, the council pledged to work out some form of parking permit process to give residents of the construction area relief from the current parking chaos while the project continues.
It is important to note that council resolutions have little impact on the utility which operates under authority from the state Board of Public Utilities. The borough could go to court for injunctive relief if it wanted to halt the project for the summer.
While the company had long promised to have the project completed by Memorial Day, Walter’s comments indicated that the utility waited until May 26 to send a formal letter to the borough concerning the extra month’s work.
Contacted, ACE said in a statement “We thank our customers in Stone Harbor and the surrounding area for their continued patience and understanding as we work to finalize contraction, specifically residents in the most impacted area.” 
The statement continued that these were the final stages of a project that “will modernize our electric system to ensure safe and reliable electric service to area residents.”
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.