JCP&L To Begin Replacing Cross-Bay Underwater Cable in Seaside Park Next Month

Jersey Central Power & Light will begin its project to replace the “X50” electric transmission cable, which runs under Barnegat Bay, next month. The cable lands on shore in Seaside Park, where work will take place.

The utility notified borough officials this week that construction activities will begin around Oct. 15, 2024, and the work will temporarily impact the parking area near the 13th Avenue bayfront. The actual construction is expected to commence Nov. 1, and will run through Dec. 15.

A cable crossing sign remains at the site of a de-energized transmission line in Seaside Park which is planned to be replaced in 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

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Two cables – one of which was decommissioned 29 years ago – run under the bay between Seaside Park and Bayville. As part of a major upgrade of electrical service to the barrier island, one of the cables will be replaced, representing a $25 million investment in the local system.

Though some island communities, such as Seaside Heights and Lavallette, operate municipal electrical utilities and its residents are not customers of JCP&L, the transmission lines to the island will provide a major backup system in case of a failure in any of the municipal utilities.

“We have the ability to hook up a portable transformer to three substations on the barrier island in Seaside Heights, Ortley or Lavallette,” said Robert Brice, the former Lavallette borough administrator who now works for the utility.

Brice addressed the Ocean County Commissioners last year and shared details of the planned construction.

The portable transformer is physically located in Lakewood and can be rapidly deployed to another town in need, he said.

According to planning documents filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, there are two cables that run across Barnegat Bay from the Berkeley Shores section of Bayville to the area near the 13th Avenue pier and boat ramp in Seaside Park. Adjacent to the boat ramp, an aging sign still warns boaters against anchoring near the shore since electrical cabling is present underneath. One of the two cables, however, was decommissioned in 1994 with the other having been taken offline in 2002. The utility is replacing the cables as part of a larger project to improve the reliability of the local transmission system and prepare for heavier usage in future years as New Jersey joins several states requiring all cars sold statewide to be electric by 2035.

The replacement of the “X50” submarine line project was proposed to the Army Corps in 2022 and went through a public comment period that fall. The transmission lines were originally laid in 1949 and 1968. One of the lines runs for 8,000 linear feet and the other for 7,950 linear feet. The utility line route was previously approved under NJDEP permits and plans dated March 21, 1949 and Aug. 30, 1968.

The project area of the X50 electrical cable project as submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (Credit: USACE)

The 13th Avenue Pier and boat ramp in Seaside Park. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Under the plan as submitted to the Army Corps, the existing cables will be removed and replaced with new cables in three-foot wide trenches that cross the bay at a minimum depth of 12-feet under the sand in the Intracoastal Waterway channel and at least 4-feet deep underneath the remainder of the bay floor. They will connect from a riser pole in Bayville on the mainland side of the bay near the former AT&T long-line shortwave facility, and extend to an underground manhole near a 100-foot wide right-of-way near the Seaside Park municipal boat ramp at 13th Avenue.

“We do not anticipate any disruption to your electric service as a result of this project,” the announcement from JCP&L this week said. “We appreciate your cooperation with our agents and contractors in the field as they proceed with this work.”