Roanoke, Va., June 20, 2008 – Appalachian Power today submitted an application to the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) seeking approval to construct an $11 million, 138 kilovolt (kV) electric transmission line and substation to serve customers in Roanoke County and the City of Roanoke. Growing electric demands in this area are expected to tax the existing facilities to their capacity by summer 2010.  
 
The project involves tapping into an existing 138 kV transmission line in Roanoke County and running a new electric line to a new substation.  The company introduced preliminary corridors and substation sites in March and took extensive public comment on the proposal before identifying a preferred route and substation location.
           
Appalachian’s preferred transmission line route is approximately 1.4 miles long, 1.1 miles of which parallel the Norfolk Southern railway tracks from south of Rt. 419 to a nine-acre tract of land north of the railway behind Tanglewood Square Shopping Center where the substation will be built. The company is also submitting a viable alternative route that would connect to the existing transmission line east of Rt. 220 and head northwest toward the substation site behind the shopping center.
 
“The public suggested a number of alternative substation sites, one of which led to a willing seller of a property that meets the immediate need and provides expansion capabilities that weren’t possible at either of the preliminary sites,” said Ron Poff, project manager. “Another advantage of the proposed site is that it is heavily wooded. We can locate the substation on a portion of the tract in such a way that trees will help shield it from view.  With active participation, we believe we have identified a route and substation location that best minimize the disturbance this project will cause to the environment or neighbors.”
 
Appalachian’s proposal includes construction of approximately 20 80 to100-foot poles built on an 80-foot wide right of way. The company’s application seeks permission to locate the 80-foot right of way within a 500-foot wide corridor. Only one structure, a business, is located in the currently proposed 80-foot right of way.  The company will work with property owners to help locate the right of way within the corridor. Approximately 32 landowners own property in the preferred corridor.
 
If the SCC approves the proposal, Appalachian expects to begin engineering, surveying and right-of-way acquisition in 2009. Construction could start later that year, with an in-service date of June 2010.
           
Additional information about the Sunscape Project, including maps, photos, visual simulations, fact sheets and the company’s SCC filing, is available at www.appalachianpower.com/go/sunscape.
 
Appalachian Power has about 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, which delivers electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. 
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