The Borough of Chambersburg, Pa., a public power community, has received funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for a grid resilience project.
In a July 30 news release, the DEP said it awarded the borough $806,250 to install two innovative power mounted smart grid systems to promote rapid isolation and restoration of power in the Borough. These devices will also allow increased electricity from renewable sources in the Borough.
Jeff Heverley, P.E., Director of Electric Utility for the Borough of Chambersburg, noted that the Borough’s Electric Department identified a vulnerability in its grid at the intersection of Grant Street and the Norfolk Southern rail line.
The intersecting 69-kV electrical lines stem from the Borough’s power generation facilities and a disturbance to this area could render the grid unable to transfer available power to areas in demand, he told Public Power Current.
The Borough wanted to address this vulnerability by acquiring and installing a SkySub substation at this location, which would allow the automatic switching and redirecting of available electricity to the electrical lines with the capacity to power the grid.
The project involves making the Borough’s grid more resilient to disturbances, which can occur time-to-time, he noted.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be $1,075,000.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Grid Resiliency Program has approximately $16 million in competitive funding available to entities that own or operate electric power system infrastructure throughout the Commonwealth that want to implement resilience measures intended to mitigate the impact of electric grid disruptive events.
The Borough Electric Department pledged $268,750.00 in matching funds for the project through the Capital Improvements Plan.
