American Electric Power receives 2016 Edison Award
American Electric Power (AEP) announced on Monday that the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) has awarded AEP the 2016 Edison Award for its leadership and ingenuity at its Energized Reconductor Project in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
“The electric power industry is making significant investments in new technologies to improve the reliability and resiliency of the energy grid,” EEI President Tom Kuhn said. “AEP’s Lower Rio Grande Valley project accomplished an incredible technical feat by replacing a record length of transmission lines while the lines remained energized. Traditional construction methods would have required taking those lines out of service, but AEP developed an innovative technical solution that permitted the company to successfully upgrade the system while maintaining service and reliability.”
AEP’s Energized Reconductor Project successfully replaced two 345-kilovolt transmission lines in the Lower Rio Grande Valley while the lines were still energized. Given the projected increase in energy demand over the next five years, AEP said that taking the lines offline was not an option. AEP successfully replaced the 240 miles of transmission line, resulting in an approximate savings of more than $43 million.
This year’s Edison Awards marked the 89th annual award ceremony. The EEI Edison Award is considered one of the most prestigious honors within the electric power industry.
