GAHANNA, Ohio, Sept. 30, 2014 – Efforts to improve the reliability of electric service in southeastern Ohio could get started as early as this fall. AEP Ohio, AEP Ohio Transmission Company, Washington Electric Cooperative and Buckeye Power are announcing a preliminary schedule and defining three components of the Marietta Area Transmission Project.

Earlier this year, the four companies reached an agreement to upgrade the electric system serving customers in Marietta and parts of Washington, Monroe and Noble counties. This area has electric service reliability issues, and these upgrades will strengthen and improve the transmission and distribution power lines with new equipment.

The companies have developed a three-phase approach to the project. All three phases will begin with siting surveys beginning by the end of this year. The three phases include Marietta North: Caldwell to Marietta; Marietta East: Marietta to Rinard Mills; and Marietta West: Marietta to Waterford.

• Marietta North: Caldwell to Marietta construction is anticipated to begin in 2017 and end in 2019. Communities in this area are Caldwell, Dexter City, Macksburg and Marietta.
• Marietta East: Marietta to Rinard Mills construction is scheduled for 2017 through 2020. Communities in this area are Marietta, Reno, New Matamoras, Rinard Mills and Lowell.
• Marietta West: Marietta to Waterford construction is expected to begin in 2020 and end in 2022. Communities in this area are Marietta, Watertown and Waterford.

Buckeye Power is a generation-and-transmission cooperative providing power for Ohio’s electric cooperatives. AEP Ohio Transmission Company is a transmission only affiliate of AEP Ohio that constructs, owns and operates transmission assets in Ohio. AEP Ohio provides electricity to customers throughout Ohio, including the Marietta area. Washington Electric Cooperative is an electric distribution cooperative serving Washington, Monroe and Noble counties.

AEP Ohio and Washington Electric Cooperative will engage and inform residents about the project through various channels including workshops, news releases and a project website (http://aeptransmission.com/ohio/Marietta/). The public also can ask questions or make comments about the project by leaving a detailed message and their contact information on the AEP Ohio Transmission Project Information Line at 877-215-9261.

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AEP Ohio provides electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of major AEP Subsidiary Ohio Power Company in Ohio. AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna, Ohio, and is a unit of American Electric Power. News and information about AEP Ohio can be found at AEPOhio.com.

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering 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 40,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP’s transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP’s utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east and north Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. News releases and other information about AEP can be found at AEP.com.

Washington Electric Cooperative, Inc., is a member-owned electric distribution cooperative serving more than 10,000 members in parts of Washington, Guernsey, Monroe, Noble, Morgan and Athens counties. www.weci.org

Buckeye Power, Inc., is a member-owned generation-and-transmission cooperative providing wholesale power to the 25 distribution cooperatives serving nearly 400,000 members in 77 of Ohio’s 88 counties.  www.buckeyepower.com

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