Wyckoff Acts as Transit Hub for Four PSE&G, O&R Transformers

Officials say that four large transformers that have been spotted in Wyckoff over the past week will not be staying here. But, they will likely help the utilities that serve the township respond to future power outages caused by major storms.

Over the past week, four large transformers that officials say will eventually be used to upgrade local PSE&G and O&R utility systems have made their way through Wyckoff, stopping at the former A&P site on Greenwood Avenue.

According to township officials, two transformers were transported last week, and two are currently waiting in the parking lot to be moved this weekend. The lot is acting as a holding cell for the large transformers until they can be transported to their eventual destination, officials said.

At a township committee meeting Tuesday night, Mayor Rudy Boonstra called moving the four transformers a “huge undertaking” that took “a lot of effort.”

The two that moved through Wyckoff last week were PSE&G transformers that ended up in Ramsey and Waldwick, Boonstra said. The two waiting in the lot are O&R transformers destined for Hillburn, NY in Rockland County, he said. They are set to leave Wyckoff this Sunday morning, officials said.

“It is my understanding that the transformers are designed to lessen the effects of future catastrophic storms,” on the local utility systems, Boonstra said. He called the township’s role in their transit an, “integral part of the effort.”

The landing site for the transformers is one that’s garnered much attention over the past few years in Wyckoff, as it is the proposed future home of a Shop Rite Supermarket. Plans for the Shop Rite were approved by the township last year, but are currently facing lawsuits.