Appalachian Power Plans Transmission Improvements in Northern West Virginia

Appalachian Power representatives and the utility’s affiliate, AEP West Virginia Transmission Co., Inc., are planning upgrades to the electric transmission system serving customers in northern West Virginia.

The Lakin-Racine Transmission Line Rebuild Project involves upgrading approximately 13 miles of transmission line and a substation in the area. All line work is planned in or near existing right-of-way.

The power line begins at Lakin Substation in Mason County, West Virginia, and travels southeast toward Letart. The upgrades continue northeast, crossing the Ohio River and ending at the Racine Hydro Substation in Meigs County, Ohio.

The project is a result of PJM Interconnection’s 2022 Winter Analysis. PJM Interconnection serves as the regional transmission organization that monitors the electric grid in 13 states, including West Virginia.

“The upgrades help to strengthen the local power grid to support electricity demand during extreme weather conditions,” said George Porter, Appalachian Power spokesperson. “The improvements also help to reduce the likelihood of extended power outages.”

Company representatives invite landowners to a virtual open house at AppalachianPower.com/LakinRacine to learn more about the project and provide feedback to the project team. Hosting the open house online complies with the social distancing recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Landowners within the project area can expect to receive a packet in the mail that includes additional project details and a comment card they can mail back with their feedback.        

“The online open house and comment cards allow us to gather input from the public while keeping their safety and health our top priority,” Porter said. “We encourage landowners to take advantage of these avenues for sharing input, or give us a call to ask questions and provide feedback.”

The team plans to use input from the virtual open house, the comment cards and additional field work to determine a power line route that minimizes impact on the community and environment. Company representatives expect construction to begin in spring 2021 and conclude by summer 2022.

Additional information about the project is available on the website.

Appalachian Power has 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is part of American Electric Power, which is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions. AEP’s approximately 17,400 employees operate and maintain the nation’s largest electricity transmission system and more than 221,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.4 million customers in 11 states. AEP is also one of the nation’s largest electricity producers with approximately 31,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including 5,200 megawatts of renewable energy.