CNBNews

Innovative approach to Salem County project earns company top honors 

MAYS LANDING, N.J. (October 29, 2020) – The New Jersey chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMINJ), a global professional project management organization, has chosen Atlantic City Electric to receive its 2020 Project of the Year Award for the company’s Salem to Woodstown Reliability Project. The project, which upgraded more than 10 miles of critical transmission line, improved reliability for thousands of customers in Salem City, Alloway, Mannington, Pilesgrove, and other parts of Salem County. PMINJ will recognize Atlantic City Electric during its annual International Project Management Day on November 7.

“We are extremely pleased to receive the Project Management Institute’s Project of the Year Award for our Salem to Woodstown Reliability Project,” said Miguel Ortega, vice president, Project & Contract Management at Pepco Holdings, which includes Atlantic City Electric. “This is great recognition of the essential work our employees perform each day, modernizing the energy grid to improve service for our customers and make the energy grid more resilient against the severe weather we continue to experience.” 

“We are pleased to recognize Atlantic City Electric’s Salem to Woodstown Reliability Project as our Project of the Year for excellence in results achieved through a strong demonstration of the best of project management practices,” said PMINJ President Mark Barash. “In particular, Atlantic City Electric demonstrated exceptional stakeholder management with proactive communications to customers, keeping them updated throughout project construction and contributing to a very successful outcome. Congratulations to the project team and to Atlantic City Electric!”

Atlantic City Electric is being recognized for its innovative approach, use of excellent project management standards and for the overall complexities in designing this reliability enhancement project. One of the many accomplishments recognized by this award included designing the project in a way that reduced environment impact during construction. This included using composite matting to minimize impact to wetlands and installing specialized devices on energy infrastructure to help protect avian wildlife.

The project, which was completed in August 2019, involved modernizing energy infrastructure to reduce the impacts of more powerful storms and extreme weather. Crews installed specialized equipment that automatically restores service more quickly or isolates damage, new switches and other modern electric devices, as well as new state-of-the-art steel utility poles capable of withstanding winds up to 120 mph.

This project is part of a broader strategic effort that includes dozens of other targeted reliability projects in communities throughout the company’s service area to enhance the local energy grid. These upgrades continue to improve reliability for customers by reducing the frequency and duration of outages. To learn more about the ongoing reliability projects across South Jersey, visit atlanticcityelectric.com/reliability.

PMINJ, in partnership with the Stevens Institute of Technology, will hold its 15th Annual International Project Management Day on November 7 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. where attendees can learn more about Atlantic City Electric’s Salem to Woodstown Reliability Project, among a variety of other pertinent topics delivered by industry leaders. For more information or to join the virtual event, visit pminj.org/ipmday2020.

Readers are encouraged to visit The Source, Atlantic City Electric’s online news room. For more information about Atlantic City Electric, visit atlanticcityelectric.com. Follow the company on Facebook at facebook.com/atlanticcityelectric and on Twitter at twitter.com/acelecconnect. Our mobile app is available at atlanticcityelectric.com/mobileapp.