Monday, November 2, 2015

PPL eyes new $3B-plus transmission line



PPL Electric Utilities Corp. is looking to build the first part of a new transmission line between Blakely in Lackawanna County and Ramapo, N.Y.

The company, a subsidiary of PPL Corp. of Allentown, announced that it began the application and approval process for the first segment of Project Compass – a new transmission line.


“This transmission line provides a significant opportunity to improve reliability and grid security and also provides benefits to customers,” Paul Wirth, spokesman for PPL Electric, said this morning. “When you add another path for power to flow, then that increases reliability because you are not relying as much on a single substation or power line.”

The full project would run about 475 miles from western Pennsylvania into southeastern New York. The estimated cost of the overall Project Compass could be $3 billion to $4 billion, Wirth said.

The first segment is a 95-mile, $500-million to $600-million line. The proposed 345-kilovolt link between the PJM Interconnection and the New York Independent System Operator is intended to make the electric grid more reliable and secure for people throughout the region. PJM is a regional transmission organization that includes eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey.

Another goal is to provide an estimated savings of at least $200 million per year for New York consumers by reducing transmission congestion.

PPL Electric Utilities filed an interconnection application with NYISO on Tuesday. Additional approvals are needed from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, New York Public Service Commission, PJM and other agencies.

“We hope to begin construction in 2021 and we hope to have approvals by then,” Wirth said. “The route has not yet been determined, but we will be working to do that as the project moves forward.”

The schedule calls for the first segment to be in service by 2023.

Source: LVB

No comments:

Post a Comment