American Transmission Systems finishes second phase of eastern Ohio transmission line upgrade
Work to strengthen a 64-mile regional transmission system in eastern Ohio achieved a milestone late last month, as American Transmission Systems, Inc. (ATSI) completed upgrades to nine miles of transmission line in Carroll and Harrison counties.
ATSI, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., invested approximately $50 million into this segment of the project, resulting in the swapping of 57 wood pole structures with new steel structures and the installation of larger wires to bear more electrical load. This will allow the system to take on greater customer demand and allow connections of additional generation sources to the grid.
The remainder of the project will span several years, stretching from a substation in Columbiana County to a substation in Belmont County. Prior to this phase, ATSI upgraded a 13-mile segment of line located in Columbiana and Carroll counties in January.
“With these infrastructure upgrades, our transmission lines can better withstand the effects of severe weather, reducing the number of service interruptions experienced by customers in eastern Ohio,” Carl Bridenbaugh, FirstEnergy’s vice president of transmission, said. “The work will also help advance development in the region to meet the growing demand for safe and reliable power for many years to come.”
These upgrades also serve a role in FirstEnergy’s larger Energizing the Future push, meant to upgrade the company’s – and its subsidiaries’ – transmission system with advanced equipment and technologies to reinforce the power grid and improve its reliability. As of last year, the company had invested more than $10 billion into the initiative.
