FirstEnergy holds open house for planned transmission line upgrade
SEVEN FIELDS — Residents of the southwestern part of Butler County were invited to get a glimpse of their energy future on Thursday, Aug. 25, when FirstEnergy hosted an open house at the Seven Fields Community Center to show plans for its proposed 138-kilovolt transmission line upgrade.
FirstEnergy, through its subsidiary American Transmission Systems, is planning to build four miles of new transmission line starting from the Cranberry substation and connecting to an existing transmission line between Mars and the substation in Pine Township, Allegheny County.
FirstEnergy spokesperson Lauren Siburkis said the new transmission line will strengthen the power grid for the fast-growing region and will provide for greater flexibility and faster restoration in the event of a power outage in the area.
“This is an area where we’ve seen a lot of explosive growth over the past decade. Every year brings new businesses and new residents to the area and it's really exciting,” Siburkis said. “But in order for us to accommodate all of this growth, we need some new power infrastructure in place to meet the energy needs for our customers for many years to come.”
Siburkis said no residences or businesses will be forced to vacate when the project begins and that FirstEnergy customers will not experience any power outages due to the work.
The project has been several years in the making. It was on the drawing board even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with two open house sessions held in January 2019. The route advertised during Thursday night’s open house was one of nine that were suggested to the public six years ago.
The company is hoping to receive permits for the project and begin construction on the transmission line in the spring of 2027. It hopes to have everything up and running by the middle of December 2028.
Mars borough resident Cynthia Cooper, who lives in the Brookstone neighborhood, says she was compelled to attend the open house because some of the new transmission line runs right through her backyard.
“I just have some questions about when they're going to start; if they're going to be building from end-to-end or just piecemeal,” Cooper said.
During the open house, representatives from FirstEnergy and companies that are partnering with them, including engineering firm GAI Consultants, assured residents that the project would have minimal environmental impact.
“Before the project is constructed, we will do our environmental due diligence, as we do with every project, to identify sensitive environmental features and resources,” said Matthew Meckey, environmental permitting lead for FirstEnergy. “We will make every attempt to minimize the impact to those resources during construction. We will acquire all the permits that are necessary by state federal law. When the construction's complete, we will restore the project area back to its existing condition.”
