Indiana Michigan Power is planning a $9 million improvement project from south Marion to northern Madison County.
I&M is scheduling a transmission infrastructure project to start in spring 2015 and conclude by fall 2016. The project will update about 15 miles of existing transmission line, most of it located between the Deer Creek substation in Marion to just north of Ind. 28.
I&M will upgrade the existing line to a more efficient and reliable one and new steel structures will replace old wood structures. I&M will also upgrade equipment at the Deer Creek substation south of Marion, according to a release.
AEP Indiana Michigan Power, parent company of I&M, Principal Communications Consultant Tracy Warner said the infrastructure is decades old and needs improvement.
“This will help ensure the reliability,” he said of the larger voltage transmitter. “It will be new and a bigger line. It gives more flexibility to economic expansion. The higher voltage power line will help new businesses.”
The project will cross Ind. 9 and Ind. 22, but Warner said there will be “minimal impact on traffic.”
Warner said this is a long-term upgrade.
“The Marion area is very important,” he said. “We want to see them have power.”
AEP Public Information Specialist Corey Hascall said the Deer Creek project will affect 100 properties during construction. Landowners will be notified by mail.
“We will be communicating with all of those landowners individually,” she said.
According to a release, while most of the work will take place within existing easements owned by the company, some easements will require updating or supplementing. I&M and its contractors will work closely with landowners to plan placement of lines and establish fair prices for use of the properties.
Hascall said many of the properties are farmland, adding the project is a high priority.
“Projects become unsafe when not upgraded,” she said. “The project is a high priority because we already had issues of power outages that we want to address. We just want to make sure improvements will strengthen the power. When people flip the switch they will always have the power that they need.”
Warner said the upgrade was not a mandate, but a plan for future properties.
At this time, I&M does not have a signed agreement with a contractor for construction.
“We want to let the public know what we are doing,” Warner said.