PECO Energy, a subsidiary of Exelon Corp., plans to invest more than $200 million in capital projects in both its electric and gas systems this year in what the company said was a “strategic investment” to ensure service reliability for customers.

PECO’s capital plan is its largest ever, and will be used to upgrade equipment, expand capacity to meet increasing energy usage in certain communities and improve reliability in targeted areas. Most of the funds, about $41 million, will support capacity expansion work, including new or expanded electric substations, equipment upgrades on local circuits and reconfiguration of circuits in growing communities to better balance electric distribution on the circuits. Another $30 million is targeted for preventive and corrective maintenance, and $27 million will be spent to improve system performance.

On its electric system, PECO said the number of incidents affecting service to customers last year was 9% lower than the average of the previous five years and the number of customers affected by interruptions during 2001 was 4% less than the same time period. On average, a PECO customer may experience just over one service interruption per year. The improved electric reliability was attributed to aggressive maintenance programs, effective tree trimming, strategic investments, and less storm activity.

“We’ve set out on a wide-ranging and aggressive five-year program that will ensure we can serve our customers well in the years ahead,” said Denis O’Brien, PECO vice president of operations. “It is a substantial strategic investment that deploys new technology, addresses aging facilities, meets growing needs with expanded capacity, and increases our overall reliability.”

Among the larger capital projects for 2002 are new substations to serve Center City Philadelphia, Lower Providence and Upper Providence in Montgomery County, PA, and expanded substation facilities in Eagle, Chester County, and North Wales, Montgomery County. Circuit improvements are planned for Buckingham and vicinity in Bucks County, PA, and improvements are planned for the Delaware County, PA network.

For natural gas, projects include a new supply gate station to serve the Newtown-Upper Makefield area in Bucks County, as well as capacity expansion projects in Bristol, Doylestown, and Pottstown boroughs.

The company also expects to complete deployment early this fall of its new automated meter reading system, a three-year project that involves replacement or retrofitting all 2.1 million customer meters on the system. The AMR system will allow for more timely and accurate billing at a reduced cost, as well as better system performance data for engineering analysis.

PECO delivers electricity to 1.52 million customers and natural gas to 442,000 customers in southeastern Pennsylvania.

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