BPA Assists New Jersey Power Companies

Crews from Bonneville Power Authority, the agency that generates and sells power to local utilities in the northwestern US including Lower Valley Energy, have returned from the east coast where they helped restore power to communities after Sandy ripped through New York and New Jersey.  Altogether, BPA sent 106 employees and contractors along with 72 pieces of heavy equipment from Olympia and Spokane Washington to assist in New Jersey through much of November.  Specifically, BPA provided manpower and resources for Jersey Central Power and Light on behalf of its parent company First Energy. The crews were able to clean out and restore flooded and damaged substations in New Jersey which would have been too much for local crews to do alone, along with having to restore the lines delivering power to neighborhoods.  Through it all, BPA says funding of the operation has been covered in such a way that the cost will not be borne by BPA or passed on to its customers.