Construction Underway on FirstEnergy Transmission Line Upgrade in Northeast Ohio

A transmission affiliate of FirstEnergy Corp. is rebuilding and modernizing an existing 69-kilovolt (kV) power line to enhance service reliability for Ohio Edison customers in Lorain, Cuyahoga and Medina counties.

Rebuilding the wooden structures and installing new, higher-capacity conductor wires will reinforce the line against severe weather and help reduce outages on the transmission system. Fiber optic cable also will be added for enhanced network communications, allowing grid operators to react more quickly and effectively to disturbances on the system.

The line extends approximately 18 miles to connect electric substations near Elyria, Strongsville, Brunswick and Medina. Construction activities are mostly limited to the existing transmission corridor. In Medina, the company is working with local business owners to reconfigure a portion of the line to reduce its environmental impact, with new structures relocated along a railroad corridor in the downtown area.

“Modernizing older transmission lines produces immediate reliability benefits for customers by reducing the frequency and duration of power outages,” said Carl Bridenbaugh, vice president, Transmission. “By rebuilding an existing line, we can enhance our ability to serve customers, better manage maintenance expenses, and minimize the project’s impact on local communities and the environment.”

The project is part of Energizing the Future, a multi-year investment initiative aimed at upgrading FirstEnergy’s transmission facilities with advanced equipment and technologies that will reinforce the power grid and help reduce the frequency and duration of outages. Since launching these investments in 2014, FirstEnergy has achieved a 37 percent reduction in equipment-related transmission outages across its Ohio service area as well as the Penn Power territory in western Pennsylvania. The line will be rebuilt by American Transmission Systems, Incorporated, a FirstEnergy company.