Progress Energy Carolinas is committed to providing safe, reliable and affordable energy to our customers.

Past and expected growth in the area including Vance and Warren counties has prompted the need for a regional transmission system enhancement. To ensure the continued reliability of the transmission system that serves this area, Progress Energy Carolinas will invest an estimated $3.6 million to build a new 115-kiloVolt (kV) electric transmission line and make improvements to the Henderson 230-kV substation south of U.S. 158-Business at the end of Southern Avenue.

Progress Energy’s continuous assessment of electric system needs indicates that by 2009, under certain circumstances, there could be voltage and reliability issues on the electric transmission system that serves the area. The project will help ensure a contined reliable flow of electricity.

Project Description

The new transmission line will begin at the Henderson 230-kV substation in southwest Henderson. The line will terminate at a point on the existing Henderson North 115-kV tap line. (The Henderson North 115-kV tap line begins at the Henderson-Vepco Kerr Dam 115-kV line just northwest of Henderson and heads east to the Henderson North substation off U.S. 158 at the end of Spring Valley Drive.)

The new transmission line will be built on 70-foot-wide property easements. Current construction plans call for the line to be suspended on single steel-pole structures (some with guy wires and some without). The poles are generally 70 to 110 feet above ground and spaced every 500 to 700 feet apart, depending on terrain.

The schedule calls for the route to be determined by December 2005 (following extensive public input). Surveying and mapping of the selected route will begin in May 2006, with right-of-way acquisition beginning in late 2006. Clearing for the new lines is scheduled to begin in January 2015, followed by construction of the line. The substation and new line are expected to be in service by June 2015. 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.

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Benefits to the Community

• The new line and facilities will ensure more flexibility and backup systems for providing critical electric transmission to the area.
  
  
  
• The electric system must keep pace with growth to ensure a continuous, reliable flow of electricity to homes and businesses. In addition to building new power plants, PEC must enhance the transmission and distribution systems to help ensure reliability 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.
  
  
  
• 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.
  
  
  
• Electricity is far too important for our customers to risk service interruptions or problems with power quality due to inadequate facilities. PEC and the N.C. Utilities Commission have an obligation to ensure that the electric system is maintained and upgraded appropriately.

Land Acquisition

Progress Energy expects to have to acquire easements for the project from property owners. The project requires new rights of way 70 feet wide, plus rights to remove or cut back danger trees and install guy wires outside the right-of-way corridor. Right-of-way requirements in some areas might vary from the 70-foot width, depending on existing facilities or other co-location opportunities. A danger trees is any trees that could fall into the transmission line, on or off the right of way, interrupting service.

Public Participation

Progress Energy believes public participation is critical to the success of the project. The company will host a meeting for the public Tuesday, Aug. 30, 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 the Vance-Granville Community College Civic Center 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: Aug. 5, 2005
• Information meeting: Aug. 30, 2005
• Survey and mapping begins: May 2006
• Right-of-way acquisition: late 2006
• Clearing and line construction begins: January 2015
• Project in service: June 2015