Multi-million dollar upgrade of electric lines planned for Logan County
by January 30, 2009 8:51 am 94 views
Oklahoma City-based OG&E filed Thursday (Jan. 29) its plans for a $12.67 million improvement of an electric transmission line in Logan County.
The filing, made with the Arkansas Public Service Commission, details the plan to upgrade the transmission line from 69 kV to 161 kV along a 10.7 mile stretch that begins near Charleston and runs to the Short Mountain substation near Paris.
Project costs are estimated at $12.67 million, with $8.28 million for upgrades to the Branch and Short Mountain substations, and $4.08 million for the new transmission line. The filing indicated construction will begin in May with completion by December.
It’s part of a “systematic upgrade,” the company noted in the filing, of its transmission lines and substations in the eastern portion of its western Arkansas service area. The company reports about 63,600 customers in western Arkansas, with about 765,300 customers systemwide.
“The capacity of the existing transmission system in this area has reached its limit and there is no capacity available for growth or additional load,” OG&E reported in the filing.
The new line would expand right-of-way from 50 to 70 feet, and the new lines would rest on 105-foot poles — as tall as a 10-story building.
The PSC has approved OG&E’s previous requests to upgrade systems in the area.