NEWARK, NJ - The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved the proposal by PSE&G for a major upgrade to the Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line in northwest New Jersey.

Pennsylvania’s PUC has already endorsed the project, leaving only approval from the National Park Service.

The NPS has scheduled its own series of three hearings, including one next Tuesday, February 16, 6:00 – 8:30, at the Fernwood Resort in Bushkill, not far from the planned route of the line.  Two more hearings will be held on successive nights in New Jersey.

In approving the project, Thursday, the New Jersey BPU concurred with the assessment of PJM, the federally-designated regional transmission organization for New Jersey, that the line was needed to improve the reliability of supply and to avoid anticipated violations of the reliability standards of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).

The Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line project is a 500 kilovolt (kV) line that will run through Pennsylvania and New Jersey, crossing the Delaware River in the middle of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

“New Jersey’s energy infrastructure is as critical to our economy as our roads and bridges,” said Acting Board President Elizabeth Randall. “The existing transmission line was built in the 1920’s when New Jersey’s population was less than half what it is today and a refrigerator in the home was considered modern technology. This new line is an essential upgrade that will serve us for decades to come.”