Allegheny Power 2015 Annual Report Download - page 4

We’re building a stronger energy system
through our primary growth platform,
Energizing the Future – an initial
$4.2 billion investment in the long-term
reliability of our transmission system
that began in 2014 and runs through
2017. Spanning our entire transmission
system, projects funded through the
program are designed to meet the
future energy needs of customers by
adding resiliency to our bulk electric
system, enhancing our facilities and
equipment, and increasing physical and
cyber security.
Initial efforts primarily focused on
the ATSI transmission system that
encompasses the service areas of Ohio
Edison, Toledo Edison, The Illuminating
Company and Penn Power, with
projects shifting eastward over time to
include our other service areas. Work
performed to date also has helped
us identify $15 billion in additional
opportunities across our 24,200-mile
transmission system that will benefit
customers through further reliability
enhancements.
Among other projects, we’re reinforcing
our system to ensure grid reliability
following the retirement of coal-fired
power plants in our region. For example,
since 2014, we’ve invested $500 million
in transmission projects to support
the deactivation of three of our power
plants along Lake Erie. As part of this
effort, we built a 119-mile transmission
line from Beaver County, Pa., to our new
Glenwillow substation in suburban
Cleveland, as well as five new substations
across portions of our Ohio service area.
In addition, we’re nearing completion of
a transmission reinforcement project in
Harrison County, W.Va., that involves the
construction of a new substation and a
6-mile transmission line. The project is
expected to enhance service reliability
for approximately 14,000 customers in
the northern portion of West Virginia.
Given that our regulated footprint is
aligned with some of the nation’s richest
shale fields, we’re making investments
through 2020 to support growth
in midstream shale gas operations
throughout our service area, including
planned expansions that are expected
to create 600 megawatts (MW) of
new industrial load. For example,
we recently completed preliminary
site work for a new substation near
Smithfield, W.Va., that is expected to
support new shale gas operations as
well as enhanced service reliability for
Mon Power customers. Over the past
few years, shale gas development has
accounted for approximately 500 MW
of new load growth in our region.
We remain committed to providing safe,
reliable service to our utility customers.
All of our utilities outperformed state
requirements for SAIDI – an industry-
wide measure of the average outage
duration for each customer served.
In the critical area of safety, our
companywide OSHA rate reached
industry top-quartile performance in
2015. This reflects the great importance
we place on safe work practices in every
facet of our operations.
GROWING OUR
REGULATED OPERATIONS
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