One Year On: Jersey Electricity Reports Progress on £120m Upgrade

Jersey Electricity says it has made strong early progress on its £120m “Big Upgrade” as the five-year modernisation of the island’s power network reaches its first anniversary.

The programme aims to prepare Jersey for a fully electric future, expanding capacity for low-carbon heating and the rise in electric vehicles. In its first year, the company has laid about 11km of new underground cable, upgraded infrastructure in 22 neighbourhoods and launched 40 individual projects. Work has also included clearing a large decommissioned turbine building at La Collette.

Over the full project, JE plans to renew 100km of low-voltage cabling, build 20 new substations, reinforce undersea links to France and add 50MW of backup generation at La Collette—changes expected to help 20,000 islanders shift from fossil-fuel heating.

Chief operating officer Mark Preece said the upgrade was essential to meet future demand and acknowledged that the scale of the work would continue to cause road disruption: “We’re grateful for islanders’ patience as we build the network Jersey will rely on for decades to come.”