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 $9.3 million to build a new electric transmission line and make improvements to the existing line that serves Warren and Vance counties.

Progress Energy's continuous assessment of electric system needs indicates that by 2011, 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 continued reliable flow of electricity.

Project Description
The new transmission line will begin at the Henderson-Virginia Power Kerr Dam 115-kV line at a location northeast of Henderson. The line will terminate at a point on the existing Warrenton 115-kV tap line near the Warrenton 115-kV substation and rebuilding the existing tap from this point to the Warrenton substation located on Airport Road (SR 1325).

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 fall 2006 (following extensive public input). Surveying and mapping of the selected route will begin in late 2006, with right-of-way acquisition beginning in mid-2007. Clearing is scheduled to begin in early 2010, followed by construction of the line. The project is expected to be in service by June 2011. 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 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 (representing an investment 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. (Danger trees are trees that could fall from outside the right of way into the line or easement, causing outages or safety concerns.)

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, June 27, 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 Warren County High School 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 affected property owners and others.

Schedule
Public announcement: June 12, 2006
Information meeting: June 27, 2006
Survey and mapping begins: late 2006
Right-of-way acquisition: mid-2007
Clearing and line construction begins: early 2010
Project in service: June 2011

View map of proposed route
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