PSE&G Orange Heights Station Update

Dear Neighbor,

As you may be aware, PSE&G is currently proposing electrical upgrades to strengthen resiliency and reliability for the City of Orange as well as the surrounding communities. As part of these upgrades, PSE&G has proposed a new electrical substation on South Jefferson Street in the City of Orange.

On February 3rd, 2022, PSE&G hosted a public community workshop to gather feedback and input on the station – specifically the aesthetic look of the perimeter wall and how residents will view the station once construction is complete. We at PSE&G were extremely pleased with the turnout of the workshop as over 80 local residents attend the meeting, a true testimony that showed how passionate the residents are about their city. From the workshop, PSE&G was able to gather valuable input from the community of Orange, including that some residents considered the proposed station design to be noncomplementary to the neighborhood. Since the workshop, PSE&G and its partners have been working to address the concerns which were brought to our attention and incorporate them into the plans for this project.

(This view is at the corner of South Jefferson Street and Forest Street, looking up South Jefferson on the left. The right side of the image represents Forest Street heading east toward Scotland Road.)

Since gathering feedback at the public workshop, the Planning Board Hearing on January 26, 2022 and other feedback received, some of the changes PSE&G has incorporated into the proposed project include:

Proposing a more community friendly station with an aesthetic look complementary to the neighborhood.
Incorporating artistic touches into the station to improve beautification.
Increased and additional lighting which will encompass the area throughout nighttime.
Additional security enhancements and security measures to enhance safety in the area.
Scaling back the south corner wall of the station to open up the corner and promote greater visibility at the intersection of South Jefferson and Forest Streets. Community features such as benches were also added in the area.
Additional landscaping plans, including flowering trees outside of the station (not shown in this image)
Improvement of community greenspace. PSE&G to confer with City of Orange.

PSE&G will continue to propose its Orange Heights Station project at the upcoming City’s Planning Board Hearing which will take place on March 23, 2022 at 7:30 PM. We greatly value the opportunity we’ve had to coordinate and work with the communities we serve, as our ultimate goal is to be a good neighbor in the city.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the project you can email myself at Jason.Postorino@pseg.com or call the project hotline at 1-800-901-5035.

Thank You,