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Progress Energy Carolinas is committed to providing safe, reliable and affordable energy to our customers.
The greater Falls of the Neuse Road area of Raleigh has experienced substantial growth in population and electricity usage in recent years. Currently, the area is served by a single transmission tap line. Progress Energy Carolinas' continuous assessment of electric system requirements has determined that system improvements must be made to help ensure a continuous reliable flow of electricity to the area in the future.
Project Description
By June 2008, PEC plans to make improvements to its transmission grid by installing a new 230-kiloVolt transmission line circuit (Durham-Falls 230-kV line) between the company's Durham 230-kV switching station, located off Coley Road in Durham County, and the Falls 230-kV substation, located in the Wakefield area. The project spans about 15 miles and will require building new transmission lines and upgrading existing transmission lines on existing rights of way. It also will include improvements to the two electric substations. The investment totals about $9 million in line construction and about $35 million in substation improvements.
The transmission line will be attached to H-frame structures or single transmission poles (or a combination), standing approximately 90-100 feet tall and spaced approximately every 500-700 feet.
Beginning in May and continuing through the end of 2005, representatives from companies working for Progress Energy will be conducting easement and environmental surveys in the area. Owners of property with impacted easements are being notified of the schedule via letter the week of May 9. Individual surveys will generally take about one to two days.
Clearing for the new lines is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2006. Installation of foundations for the transmission structures will begin in early 2007, with construction of the transmission lines starting in 2007. The new facilities are expected to be in service by June 2008. As with all projects of this sort, construction schedules are subject to change based on a variety of factors, including changes in population and usage growth.
Benefits to the Community
- The region continues to grow at a significant rate, and the electric system must keep pace. In addition to building a number of new power plants, PEC must enhance the transmission and distribution systems to help ensure a continuous, reliable flow of electricity to homes and businesses in the region. This project is one of several major transmission system upgrades under way or planned over the next several years (at a cost of more than $200 million) to benefit PEC's customers.
- The area currently is served by a single transmission tap line, which could expose the region to electric reliability problems in the future. The new lines and facilities will ensure two methods of providing electric transmission to the area.
- Converting the Durham 230-kV switching station to a 500/230-kiloVolt substation and tying the existing Mayo-Wake 500-kV line into the substation (all on existing PEC property) will significantly enhance system reliability and provide for continuing growth in the greater Raleigh and Durham area transmission grids.
- Without the transmission system upgrades, this area could be exposed to extended power outages in the near future, potentially creating the types of electric system concerns that have plagued other parts of the country in recent years.
Easement Use
The transmission lines will be built on easements the company already owns. The majority of the 100-foot-wide easement was purchased more than 30 years ago to accommodate construction and maintenance of the line. Other easements were purchased in the 1990s. The company was able to delay the need for the facilities until now. However, growth in the area, as well as reliability requirements, has prompted the need to move forward with the project.
Public Participation
Progress Energy believes public participation is critical to the success of the project. The company will host a meeting for the public Wednesday, May 25, to give property owners an opportunity to learn more about the need for the project, the construction schedule, what the transmission line will look like, and other project-related information. The meeting will be held at Wakefield High School (2200 Wakefield Pines Drive, Raleigh) from 5 to 7:30 p.m. It will follow an open-house format, allowing participants to come and go as they please and get answers to specific questions. Progress Energy also will make information available via the news media and this Web site and will communicate directly with impacted property owners and others.
Schedule
- Public announcement: May 10, 2005
- Information meeting: May 25, 2005
- Easement and environmental surveys begin: May 2005
- Clearing begins: summer 2006
- Line construction: early 2007
- New lines and substations in service: June 2008
Map of Route
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