Georgia Power Plans Replacement of "Hairpin Line"

Image Credit: Georgia Power

Staff Report

As part of Georgia Power’s commitment to providing safe, reliable and affordable electricity, the company is rebuilding its 8-mile Jack McDonough – Peachtree – Boulevard 230 kilovolt transmission line that begins at Plant McDonough in Smyrna/Vinings (Cobb County) and ends at the Boulevard Substation in the midtown area of Atlanta (Fulton County). The line is commonly referred to as the “Hairpin Line” due to its unique hairpin-like structures. The line and structures, now more than 45 years old, are reaching the end of their useful life and a rebuild is necessary to maintain safe and reliable service in the area. With the completion of the rebuild of this line, including new support structures and wire, residents and businesses will see a direct benefit of improved reliability and less maintenance work.

The line not only serves the dense residential customer base in the area, but also critical services such as the Centers for Disease Control, Grady Memorial Hospital, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta and Cobb County water treatment plants, Piedmont Hospital and others.

The line is critical to electric service in the Metro Atlanta area and the rebuild is necessary to maintain safe and reliable service for current customers and prepare for future growth in the area.

Georgia Power has been monitoring this transmission line closely for a number of years and has worked to maintain and repair issues during that time. However, maintenance work has not fully resolved reliability issues or prevented additional deterioration of the aging structures.

Georgia Power will work to complete the project with minimal impact on the residents and businesses near the line, will work directly with property owners on landscape issues and will ensure any environmental impact is minimized. The construction process is not expected to affect current electric service.

The first step in the rebuild process will be to survey the right-of-way along the entire line, which will occur during 2014. As Georgia Power rebuilds this line, we will need to ensure that any easements will meet or exceed the current North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and National Electric Safety Code (NESC) guidelines and other guidance used to construct, operate and maintain modern transmission lines. Therefore, where necessary, Georgia Power will work with owners to acquire new fixed-width easements to construct, operate, and maintain the rebuilt line. This process is similar to adding a new addition to a residential home which must meet current building codes.

The current schedule calls for re-construction work to begin in the fall of 2015 and end in the spring of 2019, with work being done primarily in the spring and fall. Due to its critical nature, this line cannot be removed from service during peak demand times (May-September or December-March). Additionally, work must be coordinated with planned maintenance outages at Plant McDonough.