AEP-LOGOAppalachian Power has filed plans with state regulators to build a new electric transmission project near the existing Cloverdale substations in Botetourt County. Apco says the “Extra High Voltage” project will cost $237 million, and it is designed to address voltage problems, transmission congestion and older equipment that needs replacement.

(Continue reading for the full Appalachian Power news release.)

CLOVERDALE PROJECT REQUEST FILED WITH VIRGINIA STATE CORPORATION COMMISSION

ROANOKE, Va., May 2, 2013 – Today Appalachian Power and an American Electric Power affiliate, AEP Appalachian Transmission Company, Inc., filed a joint request with the Virginia State Corporation Commission for approval to build the Cloverdale Extra High Voltage (EHV) Transmission Improvements Project in Botetourt County. The project is expected to cost approximately $237 million. Appalachian Power announced the project in January. Today’s filing begins a state-level review.

The project involves construction of facilities in and near the existing Cloverdale Substation. The work ultimately will involve construction of a new EHV substation yard on property the company owns, expansions and upgrades to the existing EHV yards at the Cloverdale Substation and installation of new transmission lines to tie the facilities together. The project is intended to address voltage and thermal problems, transmission congestion and equipment obsolescence that have been identified in the region by PJM, an independent transmission system operator.

Additional information about the project, including maps, photos, fact sheets and the companies’ SCC filing, is available at www.appalachianpower.com/cloverdale.

Appalachian Power has about 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, which delivers electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP Appalachian Transmission Company, LLC an affiliate of Appalachian Power Company, is one of seven public utility companies that are wholly owned subsidiaries of AEP Transmission Company. AEP Appalachian Transmission Company was formed as a transmission-only company to finance, develop, construct, own and operate new transmission assets in APCO’s Virginia service territory that are physically connected to AEP’s existing system.