PSC gives the green light on Victor Substation project along U.S Route 60 - West Virginia MetroNews

PSC gives the green light on Victor Substation project along U.S Route 60 - WV MetroNews

VICTOR, W.Va. — After months of ongoing customer debate, the Public Service Commission is now authorizing West Virginia Appalachian Power Company to go forth with its plans to construct the Victor Substation Transmission Line Project.

According to AEP, the project is a plan to upgrade the electric transmission grid in Fayette County, involving approximately three miles of 69 kilovolt (KV) transmission line along U.S Route 60. The project will assist the retirement of two older substations, the Gauley Mountain and Elmo substations, by replacing them with the new, up-to-date substation at the Victor location.

It is set to “improve reliability” for 2,000 AEP customers in the area and has the potential of reducing power outages.

AEP had two main proposed locations in mind to place the substation on, what they called the Post Office Site and the Garage Site. The Garage Site was selected for the project, but AEP Communications Director Philip Moye said it essentially had to be one or the other as both were along Route 60, which best met the needs of their infrastructure.

“This particular project is going to tie in three different distribution circuits, and in order to do that most effectively, these two sites were just right in what we would call the sweet spot of where it would be ideal to locate a substation,” said Moye.

The Garage Site, also known as Option 1 or Patton Property, is located just south of the intersection of Route 60 and Hunley Drive on the west side of the highway. According to area residents, it had previously been used as an auto mechanic garage but had been unoccupied for the past few years.

Many residents of the area have been in opposition of the project being constructed on Route 60 and have being proposing various other locations for it in the area off of the highway since 2021.

AEP representatives began joining the PSC to hear residents complaints and examine other alternative sites, but the company determined the other suggestions were not viable for the scope of what the project needed to house.

Moye said they understand that Route 60 is a sensitive area with the growing tourism industry and a lot of people traveling through, which is why they tried to work with the community the best they could through outreach and providing simulations of the project’s infrastructure.

“I think that sort of input that we got from the community and then also doing that modeling to show folks what it was going to look like when it’s constructed both helped along the project,” he said.

The commission observed that while many residents were still opposed to both the Garage Site and the Post Office Site, which is adjacent to the Victor Post Office on Route 60, they seemed more accepting of the Garage Site over the Post Office location.

Moye said in the long-term, area customers will probably be more accepting of the project along the Route 60 location based on the improvements it will be making to their electricity.

“It’s really ideal for all of the customers who live in that general area, because, it’s going to give them a new source for the power,” said Moye. “It’s also going to, through the way it’s designed, will enhance reliability for folks who live in that area, and for new residents and businesses to come in that area.”

A visual screen is going to be installed surrounding the project’s construction that will limit the view of it and any additional wires leaving the substation and connecting to existing wires along the highway.

A map of the future substation project can be viewed here.