Yesterday an Appalachian Power affiliate filed a request with the W.Va. Public Service Commission for approval to upgrade transmission facilities in the Kanawha Valley. AEP West Virginia Transmission Company, Inc., announced the upgrades in June.
Yesterday’s filing addressed a key part of the project, the rebuilding of approximately 52 miles of existing transmission lines and the installation of associated electrical components. Previous filings requested approval for upgrades to substations. The bulk of the project work will take place between the company’s John Amos Plant and its Turner and Cabin Creek substations, with a key loop in the Cross Lanes area and another in the Kanawha City area. Additional work will be done to facilities that feed off the backbone transmission line that runs from Poca to Cabin Creek.
The project will involve removing current transmission facilities and replacing them with similar but sturdier facilities of the same voltage. Approximately 80 percent of the transmission line rebuild is expected to be done within or adjacent to existing rights of way. Construction is expected to begin this fall and be complete in 2017.
The cost for the entire project is estimated to be $337 million. Because the project cost is spread among many states, there will be no noticeable rate impact. Since the project was announced, the company held two public workshops in July to provide information to interested property owners and neighbors. Customers can find more information about the Kanawha Valley Area Transmission Reinforcement Project at www.AppalachianPower.com/KanawhaValley.
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.
AEP West Virginia Transmission Company, Inc., an affiliate of Appalachian Power Company, is one of seven public utility companies that are wholly owned subsidiaries of AEP Transmission Company. AEP Appalachian Transmission Company was formed as a transmission-only company to finance, develop, construct, own and operate new transmission assets in APCO's West Virginia service territory that are physically connected to AEP's existing system.