Dan DeVille, FirstEnergy Corp. Area Manager, met with county commissioners in April to discuss the company’s $2.8 billion investment into transmission infrastructure and provide details about the reconstruction of the Mohican-Longview power line.
DeVille said that FirstEnergy announced last year its intention of making this major investment.
Transmission infrastructure involves higher voltage lines that are typically seen along highways, steel towers, or taller wooden poles, explained DeVille.
Among the infrastructure reconstruction projects to be conducted in the near future is the Mohican-Longview line, which originates at the Longview substation near U.S. Route 30 and travels through the City of Mansfield, past Lucas, through Perrysville, and ends just outside of Loudonville at the Mohican substation, described DeVille.
Every pole, every piece of hardwire, and every wire will be reconstructed along this 69,000-volt line, DeVille stated.
He said that the line has been in place for nearly 60 years, and “just like with any product, there’s a timeline, there’s a maintenance cycle, and there’s a point in which you need to make changes. Now we are going to make those investments and changes. We are going to replace it all with current technology.”
The style the crew will utilize is what’s called a horizontal post insulator, which uses a silicone polymer instead of a porcelain polymer. Further, the crew will install the largest lines possible to carry as much power as possible, DeVille said.
“We want to make sure from an economic development standpoint that our system is strong and robust,” DeVille commented.
Reconstruction is slated to begin this July. Some of the preliminary work has already been initiated. The project is estimated to be finished by December of this year.
DeVille said that the project “should have no service interruption of electricity for any of our customers;” however, there may be individual locations in which the company may need to work with homeowners or businesses for safety precautions.
If inconveniences do occur, one may call 888-340-3588.
“We’re not here to inconvenience folks. We know there is going to be some inconvenience to the community and we appreciate their patience as we move forward because when this is all said and done, we’re going to have a really, really top notch system,” DeVille said.
