Roads and utilities

PSE&G substation at 151 Trent Place

PSE&G will build an unmanned 69/13 kV substation on a 7.1-acre lot at 151 Trent Place in Belle Mead, part of a $105.1 million project to relieve the overloaded Sunnymeade and Mount Rose substations. The Planning Board approved it 5-0. Construction is expected from about June 2027 to the end of 2029.

Checked against the primary record on . Every figure on this page is sourced at the foot of the article.

Approved; state and county permits pending Last moved

What happens next

Outside approvals (NJDEP, the Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission and the Somerset County Planning Board) come before the plans are signed. Construction is expected to start about June 2027.

PSE&G is building a new, unmanned 69/13 kV substation at 151 Trent Place (Block 4001, Lot 26.01), a 7.1-acre lot it bought in September 2025 for $3 million. PSE&G told the regional grid operator, PJM, in 2023 that the Sunnymeade and Mount Rose substations were overloaded under contingency conditions, and put the fix, including work at the Bennetts Lane substation, at $105.1 million. The station would serve about 6,000 customers.

The township’s role was limited. The Board’s planner reviewed the station against the zoning ordinance’s conditional-use standards, so the Board decided how it is laid out rather than whether a utility could use the site, and state law lets a utility ask the Board of Public Utilities to set local rules aside. The Board approved a subdivision creating the lot in March 2025 (7-0) and the site plan on August 10, 2026 (5-0). One resident spoke at the 2026 hearing. At the September 14 memorialization the Board’s attorney corrected the resolution to “preliminary and final major site plan approval” and clarified that the lines out to customers will not be underground; the posted Notice of Decision still says “minor.”

The sound study predicts 38 to 41 dB(A) at the nearest homes, under the state’s 50 dB(A) night limit, and says the station “will likely be detectable during lulls.” The file also covers stormwater basins, new trees and downward lighting. It contains no study of electric and magnetic fields, a question a resident raised in 2025.

Residents can request the adopted resolution and its conditions from the Planning and Zoning office.

The substation, explained

Timeline

Each dated event on this issue, oldest first, linked to the full sourced entry.

  1. Milestone PSE&G tells PJM it will build a new substation in the Harlingen areaAt a PJM transmission planning meeting, PSE&G proposed a new 69/13 kV substation "on new property" in the Harlingen area of Montgomery. It said the Sunnymeade and Mount Rose substations were overloaded under contingency conditions. The estimate was $105.1 million, including a new transformer at the Bennetts Lane substation, with service by December 2029.
  2. Resolved Planning Board approves the subdivision that created the PSE&G substation lotThe Planning Board voted 7-0 to approve a minor subdivision (Case PB-07-24) carving a 7.095-acre lot out of about 105 acres of farmland on Trent Place, so PSE&G could buy it for a future substation. Two residents spoke. One asked about "possible radiation exposure". The board's attorney said this was "not an approval for the substation."
  3. Milestone PSE&G buys the 7.1-acre Trent Place lot for $3 million601 and Reading, L.L.C., which has owned the Trent Place farmland since 2006, sold the new Lot 26.01 at 151 Trent Place to PSE&G for $3,000,000. The deed reserves driveway easements for the seller's remaining 97 acres and for a neighbouring home. The seller also dedicated road right-of-way to the township and the county.
  4. Resolved Township reviewers weigh in on the PSE&G substation, and object to the "Harlingen" nameTownship commissions and consultants filed review memos on PSE&G's site plan between April and July 2026. The Landmarks Commission asked PSE&G to stop calling it the "Harlingen" substation, after the historic village. The board engineer found the site's soils too tight for groundwater recharge. The Fire Official recommended a water line for hydrants.
  5. Resolved Planning Board approves a PSE&G substation at 151 Trent Place, Belle MeadThe Planning Board voted 5-0 to approve a new, unmanned PSE&G electrical substation on a 7.1-acre lot at 151 Trent Place. It is meant to relieve the overloaded Sunnymead and Mount Rose substations and serve about 6,000 customers. Construction is expected to begin around June 2027 and finish by the end of 2029. One member of the public spoke, with a question about water service.
  6. Resolved Planning Board memorializes the PSE&G substation approval, after correcting the draftThe Planning Board adopted Resolution PB-04-26, putting the August 10 approval in writing. Before the vote, the board attorney corrected the draft to say the approval is a "major" site plan. The correction also says only the lines into the substation go underground, and lines out to customers will not. The posted Notice of Decision still says "minor."

Explainers

  • The PSE&G Substation on Trent Place, Explained

    PSE&G will build an unmanned 69/13 kV substation on a 7.1-acre former farm field at 151 Trent Place in Belle Mead, with construction expected from about June 2027 to the end of 2029. It is part of a $105.1 million regional project to relieve two overloaded substations. The Planning Board approved it 5-0 with little public comment. This explainer covers why the township's say was limited, what the file says about noise, light, stormwater and screening, what it does not say, and what residents can still ask for.

Documents

The township's own records on this issue. Each links to the official copy.

Sources for this overview

  1. PJM TEAC, PSE&G supplemental projects, October 31, 2023
  2. Planning Board minutes, August 10, 2026 (Case PB-04-26)
  3. Planning Board meeting video, September 14, 2026: the resolution corrected
  4. Sound study, October 29, 2025
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