FirstEnergy subsidiary Met-Ed announced this week that a new transformer has been energized at the power utility’s downtown Lebanon substation at Third and Willow streets.
“The substation’s previous transformer experienced a failure in early June and could not be repaired,” said Met-Ed in a statement. “A mobile substation provided temporary service to customers in the area until the new transformer was installed to help ensure long-term grid stability.”
The substation was linked with several power outages in Lebanon this summer.
“Crews logged long hours through several heat waves to safely perform the work, and we appreciate the patience of our Lebanon customers who experienced outages associated with the failure of the transformer,” said Met-Ed spokesperson Todd Meyers in a press release.
Met-Ed said that the Third and Willow streets substation is particularly important to the local grid because the substation supplies electricity to the underground distribution network that powers much of Lebanon’s core downtown.
The transformer was energized in late July.
“Resolving this critical issue was a top priority, and we expect this to strengthen the reliability of electric service provided to our Lebanon customers,” said FirstEnergy president John Hawkins in a statement. “We engineered a solution, identified a spare transformer with the capacity to handle the electrical load and put our crews to work to safely and quickly install the unit.”
Met-Ed said that it is next planning to install a new transformer at its West Lebanon substation within the next 18 to 14 months.
“Large substation transformers like these remain difficult to source with long lead times for manufacturers to build and deliver,” said Meyers.
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