TVA Announces Location of Proposed Transmission Route for Clay, Lowndes, Oktibbeha Counties

May 27, 2025

Contact: Julia Wise

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Release Summary

TVA is building more American energy with a new transmission line to support reliable energy and economic growth in Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties.
The selected route is expected to have the least impact on the area, based on public feedback.
TVA will meet with property owners, and survey work is expected to begin in 2025.

WEST POINT, Miss. —TVA announced today that it has identified a preferred location for a new transmission line in Clay, Lowndes, and Oktibbeha Counties that would support growth and increase power reliability. The selected route is expected to have the least impact on the area, based on public input from the in-person and virtual open houses and additional evaluation of other factors including social, environmental and engineering impacts. A National Environmental Policy Act review is also pending.

TVA’s new power line will begin at the Clay Substation at 2740 TVA Road in West Point and extend south to the Artesia Substation at 1280 Mims Road in Columbus. The project would be less than 19 miles and be built using primarily single and double-pole steel structures on existing and new 100-foot-wide right of way.

The preferred location for the new line was selected from several options presented at an open house in West Point on November 14, 2024, and online at a virtual open house from November 14 through December 16, 2024.

TVA will meet with property owners along the proposed right of way to obtain easements for construction, operation, and maintenance of the line. Property owners would still own the property and be compensated for the easements at fair market value.

TVA is expected to begin surveys in fall 2025 and start acquiring easements in fall 2025 to winter 2025-2026. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring-summer 2027 and be completed in summer 2027. A map of the project and additional information are available at tva.com/transmissionprojects.

To address the region's load growth due to growing population, industrial electrification and onshoring of manufacturing, TVA is making some of the largest capital investments in the agency's history to ensure the region has reliable, affordable energy to power American jobs.

About TVA

The Tennessee Valley Authority is the nation’s largest public power supplier, delivering energy to more than 10 million people across seven southeastern states. TVA has one of the most diverse energy systems – including nuclear, hydro, coal, gas, solar and advanced technologies. TVA is making significant investments in its power system toward new generation and transmission. 

TVA is a corporate agency of the United States, receiving no taxpayer funding, deriving virtually all of its revenues from sales of electricity. TVA maintains some of the lowest energy costs and highest reliability in the nation. TVA’s residential rates are lower than those paid by 80% of customers of the top 100 U.S. utilities, and its industrial rates are lower than those paid by over 90% of customers of the top 100 U.S. utilities. In addition, TVA provides flood control, navigation, and land management for the Tennessee River system, and assists local power companies and state and local governments with economic development and job creation. Learn more at tva.com.

Contact

Julia Wise
Memphis
[email protected]
703-772-3762

TVA Media Line

Our media staff is available 24 hours a day. If you cannot reach the contact above, please call our media line at 865-632-6000.