ASHLAND, Ky., Sept 3, 2020 – Kentucky Power representatives are resuming plans for power upgrades in Pike and Floyd counties. The Kewanee – Enterprise Park 138-kV Transmission Project involves building approximately 5 miles of transmission line and a new substation to address electrical needs in the area.
Company representatives announced the project in spring 2018 as the Enterprise Park Economic & Area Improvements Project. The project team hosted an open house to gather input from the public and later selected a proposed route for the power line. Kentucky Power representatives placed the project on hold in 2019 due to changing electrical needs in the area.
“The project no longer requires serving a customer in the Kentucky Enterprise Industrial Park,” said Brett Mattison, president and chief operating officer. “However, our need to provide continued reliable electric service to our customers has not changed.”
The project is intended to address findings verified by PJM Interconnection. PJM Interconnection serves as the regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in 13 states, including Kentucky, and the District of Columbia. The upgrades are expected to increase the electrical grid’s performance and reliability during periods of high electric demand. Company officials are resubmitting for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the Kentucky Public Service Commission. Company representatives are submitting a line route similar to previously announced plans.
Crews plan to build the new substation adjacent to the Kentucky Enterprise Industrial Park in Pike County. The proposed transmission line begins at the new substation and travels northwest through Pike County. The line crosses into Floyd County where it parallels the Company’s existing 765-kilovolt transmission line. The proposed line ends at an existing power line west of Keathley Branch Road. After the project concludes, Kentucky Power officials plan to retire the Fords Branch Substation located on Old Shelbiana Road.
OR Colan Utility & Infrastructure Land Services, LLC (ORC) serves as the right-of-way contractor representing Kentucky Power on this project. Directly-involved landowners can expect to hear from ORC in the coming months to discuss next steps.
If the project is approved, construction is expected to start in the fall of 2021 and conclude by the end of 2023.
Additional information about this project, including an interactive map of the proposed line route, is available at KentuckyPower.com/EnterprisePark.
Kentucky Power, with headquarters in Ashland, provides service to about 165,000 customers in 20 eastern Kentucky counties, including Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Clay, Elliott, Floyd, Greenup, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Magoffin, Martin, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike and Rowan. Kentucky Power is an operating company in the American Electric Power (AEP) system. AEP, based in Columbus, Ohio, is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions to customers. AEP’s more than 17,000 employees operate and maintain the nation’s largest electricity transmission system and more than 224,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.4 million regulated customers in 11 states, including Kentucky. AEP also is one of the nation’s largest electricity producers with approximately 33,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including 4,200 megawatts of renewable energy. AEP’s companies includes utilities AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power, Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company. AEP also owns AEP Energy.