Southwestern Electric Power Co. is laying out plans to upgrade Texarkana's electrical grid in a project that will kick off in early 2018 and finish up in late 2019.
"We are putting $23 million into this project," said Scott McCloud of SWEPCO corporate communications. "The Texarkana lines up were originally put in the '40s, and it is time to upgrade."
According to a SWEPCO press release, the project will encompass the entire Texarkana grid, beginning with the company's 39th Street substation. All the line will be new, and the wooden electrical poles will be replaced with steel poles.
"The total amount of line we will have to lay will be about 11 miles from beginning to end," McCloud said. "Right now, we have right-of-way agents out contacting landowners to let them know what is coming.
"We aren't laying any new lines, so this won't require any requests for permission. The ones we obtained for the original line routes still apply today. If we were laying new line, we would have to go through another process of obtaining permission. But for this, we just need to inform property owners that this is coming."
The money for the project is coming from SWEPCO itself. If the company were to try to recoup its investment by passing on a rate hike to customers, it first would need state approval.
"We are a regulated industry," said McCloud. "Items like rate increases and the like, we have to request authorization."
McCloud said the work is part of a larger project called Powering Up Northeast Texas, which aims to ensure power grids are reliable.
"In the end, we will have upgraded the aging infrastructure. This will strengthen the transmission system and help reduce the number and duration of power outages we have been experiencing," he said.
SWEPCO is putting on a come-and-go informational open house on the project from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. May 4 at Texarkana Convention Center. Visitors can learn about the improvements, review maps and talk with company representatives.