Wind energy lines to be made in Arkansas

Clean Line Energy announced an agreement Thursday (mar. 24) in which the company will purchase cable manufactured at General Cable’s Malvern, Ark., facility for its Plains & Eastern Clean Line. The transmission line will run from the Oklahoma panhandle through Arkansas to Tennessee.

Clean Line President Michael Skelly and General Cable North America President Gregory J. Lampert announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding during a Thursday morning news conference at The Peabody Little Rock.

Houston-based Clean Line will deliver wind energy produced in western Oklahoma, southwest Kansas and the Texas panhandle to consumers across the Mid-South and the Southeast regions through its Plains & Eastern Clean Line transmission project.

Noting Arkansas’ manufacturing role in the wind energy business, which includes LM Wind Power, Nordex and a forthcoming Mitsubishi plant, economic officials welcomed the Clean Line project’s Arkansas connection.

"The Plains & Eastern Clean Line brings economic growth and new jobs for Arkansans," said Maria Haley, Executive Director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. "I am pleased to see Clean Line and General Cable partnering to stimulate the manufacturing industry in Arkansas through new opportunities for wind energy in the region."

General Cable’s Malvern plant has 330,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space on an 80-acre site. The plant originally was opened in 1967 to manufacture high-voltage bare aluminum overhead conductors and was expanded in 1969 to produce low-voltage and medium-voltage insulated cables. The plant has 152 employees.

The supply order for the Plains & Eastern Clean Line could be worth $100 million or more depending on commodity prices. Construction is expected to begin in 2013 and continue over the next few years. All told, as much as 25 million conductor feet of cabling lines may be made to serve the order.

Clean Line estimates property taxes on the transmission lines — which may run through parts of the Fort Smith area — will generate millions of dollars annually in Arkansas. Property taxes for utility infrastructure in Arkansas are assessed by the Public Service Commission and will be distributed to counties where the line is routed. The route has not been finalized yet.

"Our alliance with General Cable is a clear indication of the many benefits that Arkansas will realize as a result of the Plains & Eastern Clean Line," said Clean Line President Michael Skelly. "This marks our first preferred vendor agreement and we are very glad and proud to commence a relationship with General Cable."