FLOWOOD, Miss. ― The Tennessee Valley Authority has identified a preferred route for a new transmission line that would provide power for growing load and increase power reliability in the Flowood, Mississippi area.

Central Electric Power Association plans to build the Flowood Substation at the southwest corner of the intersection of Mississippi Highway 471 and Vine Drive. TVA’s new 4.5 mile line would begin at the Sebastopol-Langford 161-kV transmission line and extend southwest to the new substation. The preferred route is a combination of segment Nos. 1, 3, 10, 11, 12 and 13 proposed at an open house held in April 2018.

This preferred route is expected to have the least impact on the area, based on public input from the open house and additional evaluation of other factors, including social, environmental and engineering impacts. A National Environmental Policy Act review is also pending.

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

TVA is expected to begin surveys in fall 2018 and start acquiring easements in fall 2019.  Construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2020 and be completed by winter 2020-2021. 

A map of the project and additional information are available on the TVA website at www.tva.com/transmissionprojects.

Mississippi is home to TVA’s largest combined cycle plant – Magnolia. TVA partners with 28 local power companies to deliver 99.999 percent reliable power to 343,000 households and 85,000 commercial or industrial customers, with eight customers directly served by TVA.

For more information about TVA and its 85-year mission of service to the Tennessee Valley, click here.