Power shift: PATCO to buy some electricity from Peco

By Paul Nussbaum, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: November 04, 2010

In an effort to avoid power outages that have halted some PATCO commuter trains, the transit agency will buy part of its power from Peco Energy.

PATCO received authority Wednesday from the board of its parent Delaware River Port Authority to switch about 20 percent of its electricity purchases from New Jersey-based Public Service Electric & Gas to Philadelphia-based Peco.

That means PATCO will pay about $1.12 million a year to Peco and about $4.48 million to PSE&G, at current rates. PATCO general manager Robert Box said the change would be cost-neutral, since rates from both companies are similar.

By relying only on PSE&G for its power on both sides of the Delaware River, PATCO trains have been vulnerable to power failures in recent years.

Until the mid-1990s, PATCO bought electricity for its Philadelphia operations from Peco. But it switched all its business to PSE&G when it received a better rate from the New Jersey company. A power line was built across the Ben Franklin Bridge to power Philadelphia operations.

But the lower rate is no longer available from PSE&G, and the aging bridge power line has grown less reliable. And a continuing $28.5 million project to replace PATCO power lines and poles has left PATCO vulnerable to power outages when electric supplies are taken out of service to permit the construction.

In April, PATCO trains were shut down for more than an hour because of a power failure attributed to the construction and the reliance on a single source of electricity.

Contact staff writer Paul Nussbaum at 215-854-4587 or pnussbaum@phillynews.com.

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