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All of the early electrical generators were quite small in capacity, so small in comparison with the capacity of the engines, that in many plants a single engine, through the medium of a line-shaft, was utilized in the driving of a large number of generators. The first electric lighting, principally used for lighting streets and stores, was by the use of arc lamps, and very soon afterwards by incandescent lamps. Both were operated by means of series circuits, each circuit being supplied by its own independent generator. Between 1890 and 1900 the development of electric illumination was literally astounding, and New Jersey had its part in this advance. The State profited greatly and today electrical energy is available in nearly every community. High-tension transmission of electrical energy now supplies the most remote portions of the State. There are still a number of rural areas not supplied, but the electric companies are rapidly spreading their distribution lines over all remaining areas where the business available justifies.
The era of the small generating plant has passed, and service is supplied by less than a dozen companies, most of which are so interconnected that it is safe for an industry to locate its plant in almost any part of the State with an assurance that there will be a relatively unlimited supply of electric power at reasonable rates. Because of the high-tension transmission lines and minor interconnections between the various companies, it is no longer necessary to confine industrial development to the vicinity of the large cities.
For many years it has been the practice to locate small factories in villages and small towns in order to utilize labor which would otherwise have to move to the larger cities. Today the power question need no longer influence the choice of location for an industry. The interconnections, sometimes referred to as the "superpower" system, which are being made between the different companies, include all the adjacent states.
For upward of two years the cables of the Philadelphia Electric Company have brought power into the City of Camden and vicinity. In October, 1927, the Trenton switching station of the Public Service Electric and Gas Company was put into service at a cost of $1,500,000. Through it Public Service receives power from the Philadelphia Electric Company for the supply of Trenton and vicinity. This power is received at the present time at 66,000 volts. The line itself, however, is designed for 131,000 volts. The capacity of the line is 50,000 kilowatts and when necessary can be readily doubled.
A thoroughly modern plant has been constructed in Kearny. It has an ultimate capacity of 450,000 kilowatts and it is operated as part of a group which includes the Essex power station, Newark, and the Marion power station, Jersey City. Combined, these three plants have about six times the dependable, continuous capacity of the much-talked-of Muscle Shoals plant in its present stage of development.
Connecting this group of plants with a switching station at Athenia, midway between Paterson and Passaic, a switching station at Roseland, several miles west of Newark, and extending to the southward, southeastward, and thence toward the east to a point south of Metuchen, is a two-circuit transmission line operating at 131,000 volts, tying together all of the large power stations in the northern part of the State. Construction of a new power station is to be commenced at a point near Perth Amboy where ample water and fuel are readily available. Later 132,000-volt connections are to be established, if possible, from the Metuchen switching station to the Kearny switching station along Newark Bay and the Passaic River and thus making a complete loop connection for the northern section.
Utility companies have recognised for a long time the general principle that full cooperation is best for all concerned. This has led to an agreement between Public Service Electric and Gas Company on the one hand, the Philadelphia Electric Company on the southwest, and the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company on the northwest, for a pooling of the resources of the three companies. In order to make this effective a "ring" is under construction, including an 81-mile transmission line from Siegfried, Pa., eight miles north of Allentown, to the Roseland switching station, where connections will be made with the 132,000-volt lines already referred to; a 49-mile line from Siegfried to a switching station near Philadelphia, where connections will be made from the Conowingo hydroelectric plant on the Susquehanna River and the other stations of the Philadelphia Electric Company; and the Roseland and Philadelphia stations will be connected by a 77-mile line, thus completing the loop, into which will feed all the generating stations of the three companies.
The work of constructing these transmission lines will be completed in 1930 at a cost of approximately $26,000,000. The net result of this pooling of interests will be a saving of $3,000,000 per annum because of economies effected. The principal advantage which the interconnection of these systems is expected to achieve is improvement in service, especially as to dependability. In addition there will be benefits arising from diversity of load, the possibility of staggering construction programs, and the ability to concentrate production in the most efficient generating plants, irrespective of ownership. The diversity factor alone has a very important effect in reducing the combined needs of the system.
The total capacity of all the plants feeding into this pool will be approximately 2.,2.50,000 kilowatts. Other plants than those mentioned which will be connected with this system are, first, a plant at West Pittston with a capacity of 66,000 kilowatts, owned jointly by the American Gas and Electric Company and the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company; and a plant to be located at Sunbury on the Susquehanna River, which will be connected to the Siegfried switching station.
In addition to the connections now partly established and being completed by Public Service Electric and Gas Company, the plants at York Haven and Middletown on the Susquehanna River; at Reading and Easton, Pa.; and at Dover, New Jersey, are all connected by means of 110,000-volt transmission lines extending from the Susquehanna River through western and northern New Jersey to Walden, New York, where connections are made with the Adirondack Power Company. Through these various interconnections the entire country from Boston to Pensacola and to Chicago may be connected at any time for emergency purposes, and in fact, was connected for a temporary test in June, 1927. At Holland, on the Delaware River, a few miles above Frenchtown, a modern power station operated at a steam pressure of 1,200 pounds, is under construction. This will be connected directly to the 110,000-volt line referred to.
The entire portion of the State south of Barnegat City on the east and a point a few miles south of Camden on the west is served by the Atlantic City Electric Company. Here is a large area for potential industrial development, surrounded by deep-water shipping facilities, and interlaced by an extensive transportation system.
The Atlantic City Electric Company's management is already preparing for the development of this territory. From east to west the State is spanned with two principal 66,000 volt lines both of which originate at Deep-water Point on the Delaware River opposite Wilmington, Delaware. After diverging to Hammonton on the north, and through Bridgeton and Ocean View on the south, they come together again at Atlantic City. Radiating from these trunks are other transmission lines, which cover the territory with a complete network of 300 miles of line.
There is now under construction still another double-circuit steel tower 132,000 volt line to be run in a straight line from Deepwater Point to Atlantic City. This line is 56 miles in length and will be constructed at a cost of nearly a million dollars.
In addition to its own facilities, now installed or under construction, the Company has provided for supplementary sources of supply to take care of breakdowns or other emergencies. At Deepwater Point submarine cables connect with the system of the United Gas Improvement Company, including the Philadelphia Electric Company's steam plants and Conowingo Hydro-Electric Plant on the Susquehanna River. A connection with the West Jersey and seashore transmission lines makes available other sources of supply.
Although the plant capacity of the Atlantic City Electric Company of 80,000 horse power is ample to take care of immediate load necessities, the anticipated growth of southern New Jersey is so great that the company is now engaged in the construction of a new plant at Deepwater Point. This plant will have an ultimate capacity of 575,000 horse power, of which the first unit of 160,000 horse power is now being installed at a cost of $12,000,000.
It embodies all of the most modern elements of power plant construction for the production of electric energy at the lowest possible cost. The boilers will have a working pressure of 1350 pounds and the high-pressure turbines will operate at 12.00 pounds pressure.
The plant has an ideal strategic location, being at the center of the anticipated load, and immediately on the Delaware River where there are unlimited water supply and deep-water shipping facilities. Coal may be unloaded directly from ships or barges as well as from direct railroad connections. An unusual feature of this plant is the provision for the sale of steam to the Du Pont Company for its dye works. So certain is the Company of the location in the immediate vicinity of manufacturing plants using process steam, boiler capacity has been provided and large tracts of land for such plants have been purchased in the neighborhood of Deepwater Point.
Industry in New Jersey need not lack ample supplies of power at reasonable rates. Charges for electrical energy must of course be based upon cost, but owing partly to the interconnection with the various companies, rates have been reduced in the last few years, for both power and ordinary household uses. This has encouraged the installation of labor-saving household devices on a widespread scale.
