AUB PUMPS $1.1 MILLION
INTO ENGLEWOOD POWER
SUPPLY SYSTEM

ATHENS, Tenn. - The Athens Utilities Board (AUB) is set to begin a $1.1 million upgrade and replacement of the power transmission line serving the Englewood substation.

The work will begin during the week of September 10 and will be completed in December. Coupled with upgrades to power distribution lines along Highway 411 as well as substation improvements in Englewood, the project will yield a more reliable power supply for AUB customers there.

AUB spokesman Wayne Scarbrough said the work is a critical step in taking care of Englewood customers who have weathered frustrating power outages in the past year. “Our Englewood customers should know that their needs are being addressed, and in a big way, with this million-dollar plus project,” he said.

Scarbrough pointed out that several of the past outages were unavoidable regardless of upgrades. “Lightning, fallen trees, animals, and construction work on 411 have all knocked power out and those things will happen on every system,” he said. “But some of the outages can be traced to aging infrastructure that this upgrade will address.”

The work involves seven-and-a-half miles of 69-kilovolt (KV) transmission line that spans cross-country between AUB's North Athens substation, on Ingleside Avenue in Athens, and the Englewood substation off of Zion Hill Road. “Although this is a 69KV line, we are rebuilding to 161KV specifications. 161KV will become the standard transmission voltage in this area in the future, so building to 161 specifications now will avoid the need for a second costly project later,” Scarbrough said. The work also serves as a first step in the eventual rebuild of the Englewood substation overall. When 161KV becomes standard, critical portions of the substation will need to be replaced to be optimally compatible, he said.

During the work, Englewood’s power will be fed via a Madisonville line, a move that will keep the power on continually while the project proceeds. “When we get to the last phase of the work and the final tie-ins at the Englewood substation we will have to have a planned outage in Englewood. We’ll probably do this in the dead of night to affect as few customers as possible,” Scarbrough said. He added that AUB will also work in advance of the planned outage with industrial customers to give them as much lead time as possible for production planning purposes.

AUB has had power industry consultants at the Englewood substation in past weeks helping identify root causes of past outages and corrective actions to avoid future problems, Scarbrough said. “We are looking at all available avenues to improve our Englewood system.”