By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green broke ground Thursday afternoon for a new electric substation on the northwest edge of the city.
The substation, at the southeast corner of Bishop and Brim roads, will improve the reliability and consistency of electric service in the city, according to Public Utilities Director Brian O’Connell.
Bowling Green currently has three transmission delivery locations into the city from First Energy. The city then has a transmission loop around the city that brings the power to customers. The loop allows the city to transfer the load from one substation to another, O’Connell explained.
The transmission lines to the city aren’t equal in strength or capacity, with the strongest feed coming into town at Bishop Road.
“If that would ever go down, that leaves us with two feeds from First Energy that aren’t as strong,” O’Connell said.
First Energy suggested that Bowling Green divide the city in half on the transmission feed – meaning a separation of the transmission ring around the city.
“We weren’t in favor of separating our transmission ring,” O’Connell said. “We wanted to keep the ring intact to maintain control of our own system.”
So instead, the city decided to install a fourth feed into the system to improve reliability and consistency.
The fourth substation for the city is being built by American Municipal Power Inc., which recently started working on transmission projects.
“For the most part, our customers are not going to notice a change,” O’Connell said.
But the substation will give Bowling Green access to larger capacities, which could give the city leverage to attract businesses with large industrial load demands.
“That could be good for economic development,” O’Connell said.
The substation project will cost approximately $10 million. Because the substation is part of a larger transmission system, and because it is being built due to a weakness identified with the current system, the city’s share will be less than 5% of the cost, O’Connell said.
The substation is expected to be completed around the third quarter of 2022.
