Dive Brief:
- American Electric Power's (AEP) Appalachian Power unit plans to spend $337 million to upgrade 52 miles of transmission lines and substations in the Kanawha Valley region of West Virginia. Completion is expected in 2017.
- Some of the new lines would replace facilities dating from the 1920s.
- The utility said it would seek a rate increase of 14 cents per month for an average customer to pay for the project.
Dive Insight:
The company says the upgrades are driven in part by the retirement of two large coal plants, the Kanawha River Plant and the Philip Sporn Plant. Even West Virginia, one of the nation's largest coal producers, is cutting back on coal-fired generation.