GAHANNA, Ohio, March 20, 2015 – AEP Ohio, a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), AEP Ohio Transmission Company, Buckeye Power and Washington Electric Cooperative are taking steps to improve electric service in Marietta and the surrounding area. The plan includes construction of a new 138-kilovolt (kV) transmission line in Noble and Washington counties.
To learn more about the project, the public is invited to attend a project open house from 4 to 7 p.m. March 31 at the Noble County Community Center, Fairgrounds Road, Caldwell, Ohio, 43724. Visitors may come and go at any time during the workshop. Noble and Washington counties’ residents can offer input, ask questions of project team members and learn more about the new transmission line.
The South Caldwell-Macksburg transmission line is a 138-kilovolt (kV) transmission line that connects the South Caldwell substation, passing through the South Olive substation, in Noble County to Macksburg substation in Washington County. This project will improve service for customers, cut down on power interruptions and speed recovery of service when outages occur. In addition, this line is needed to support the future infrastructure reinforcements planned for Washington and Monroe counties. The South Caldwell-Macksburg line will be approximately eight miles long, depending on the route selected. The line will likely run through Olive, Jackson and Jefferson townships in Noble County with a short section in Aurelius Township in Washington County.
“This investment in Noble and Washington counties ensures a reliable delivery of electricity to our customers today, and into the future,” said Pablo Vegas, AEP Ohio president and chief operating officer. “We are pleased to make this type of investment that is essential for homes and businesses, and attracting new investments into the local communities.”
“The improvements planned by AEP will provide the Washington Electric Cooperative member-consumers and businesses with a much more reliable transmission system that should serve the Noble and Washington County area for many years to come, “ said Ken Schilling, general manager and chief executive officer of Washington Electric Cooperative. “The cooperative fully supports and appreciates the commitment being made by AEP.”
AEP Ohio plans to invest approximately $20 million in the South Caldwell-Macksburg transmission line. Construction is targeted to begin in the spring 2016 and be complete by the end of 2017.
Additional information about the project, including maps, is available online at AEPTransmission.com/Ohio/SouthCaldwell-Macksburg/. The public also can ask questions or make comments about the project by leaving a detailed message by calling 614-552-1929.
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AEP Ohio provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of major AEP Subsidiary Ohio Power Company in Ohio. AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna, Ohio, and is a unit of American Electric Power. News and information about AEP Ohio can be found at AEPOhio.com.
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering 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 40,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP’s transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP’s utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east and north Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. News releases and other information about AEP can be found at AEP.com.
Washington Electric Cooperative, Inc., is a member-owned electric distribution cooperative serving more than 10,000 members in parts of Washington, Guernsey, Monroe, Noble, Morgan and Athens counties. www.weci.org
Buckeye Power, Inc., is a member-owned generation-and-transmission cooperative providing wholesale power to the 25 distribution cooperatives serving nearly 400,000 members in 77 of Ohio’s 88 counties. www.buckeyepower.com
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MEDIA CONTACT:
AEP Ohio
1-866-641-1151 or 614-883-7999
aepohiomediarelations@aep.com
Washington Electric Cooperative
Jennifer Greene, 740-373-2141
jgreene@weci.org
Buckeye Power
John Howley, 614-846-5757
jjh@buckeyepower.com