Delmarva Power unveils Midway substation expansion
Delmarva Power and Light Co. officials have rolled out a $7 million project to expand the Midway substation to keep pace with growth and improve reliability of its system in the Cape Region.
The company has filed a conditional-use application with Sussex County officials for the project on a 2.5-acre commercially zoned parcel along Route 1 near the Dartmouth Road intersection. The expansion is needed to respond to the rapidly growing population in the area, said Jim Smith, senior public affairs manager, during a Feb. 23 county planning and zoning commission public hearing. “There has been a 25 percent increase in the load over the last few years,” he said.
The work would be a continuation of a recently completed project at the company's Five Points substation in Belltown as well as work done along Route 1 in the Midway area.
Smith said the project is also aimed at better reliability to isolate outages and get the lights back on faster. He said outages on the single transmission line out of Midway substation impact multiple Delmarva Power customers from Cool Spring to Rehoboth Beach along with Delaware Electric Cooperative and Lewes Board of Public Works customers who use Delmarva Power lines.
Under the new configuration, Delmarva Power would have three lines to reduce the impact of line faults and outages. Included in the project would be a second transformer, additional transmission and distribution breakers, and three separate transmission lines – one from Cool Spring to Five Points; one from Five Points to Midway; and another from Midway to Rehoboth Beach.
Smith said the company could start construction this spring and have the work completed in a year. Included on the site plan is a 50-foot easement on the north side of the property to provide for a future access road from Lefty's Alley and Eats to Route 1.
The Midway substation was installed in the early 1960s and was deactivated in the mid 1980s until 2005 when it was upgraded and put back into service.
