Tennessee Valley Authority
TVA Identifies Preferred Route for Transmission Line
September 9, 2010
COLUMBUS, Miss. — The Tennessee Valley Authority has identified a preferred route for a new transmission line that would provide power to 4-County Electric Power Association's proposed Lake Lowndes Substation.
The proposed 2.4-mile transmission line and substation would relieve overloading at the New Hope Substation, and provide reliable power to the growing Lake Lowndes area. The 161-kilovolt transmission line would extend southeast from TVA's existing Lowndes-Columbus 161-kilovolt line to the proposed Lake Lowndes Substation, located on Mississippi Highway 69 near New Hope Road.
The preferred route is expected to have the fewest overall impacts among the alternatives studied, and is pending completion of a National Environmental Policy Act review.
The route affects approximately 16 parcels. TVA will meet with property owners along the proposed right-of-way to obtain 100-foot easements for construction, operation and maintenance of the line. Property owners will still own the property and be compensated for easements at fair market value.
TVA is expected to begin acquiring easements for the transmission right-of-way during the summer of 2011. Construction is scheduled to begin during spring 2012 with the project's completion scheduled for summer 2012.
TVA selected the preferred route after receiving public input on the various alternatives for the transmission line. TVA's goal is to select the best overall path, weighing the same environmental, land use, engineering, cultural and cost considerations for each option to ensure the project's overall impact is minimized.
The preferred route consists of alternative segments 2 and 4 as shown on TVA's website. The map of the project and additional information is available at www.tva.com/power/projects.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, a corporation owned by the U.S. government, provides electricity for utility and business customers in most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia – an area of 80,000 square miles with a population of 9 million. TVA operates 29 hydroelectric dams, 11 coal-fired power plants, three nuclear plants and 11 natural gas-fired power facilities and supplies up to 33,700 megawatts of electricity, delivered over 16,000 miles of high-voltage power lines. TVA also provides flood control, navigation, land management and recreation for the Tennessee River system and works with local utilities and state and local governments to promote economic development across the region. TVA, which makes no profits and receives no taxpayer money, is funded by sales of electricity to its customers. Electricity prices in TVA's service territory are below the national average.
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