The U.S. Forest Service today issued a special use permit allowing East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) to proceed with a critically needed transmission line project in Rowan County.

The 6.9-mile, 138-kV transmission line will connect the existing Cranston substation near Triplett to the existing Rowan substation near Morehead, creating a link that will significantly improve electric reliability in the region. Existing lines in the area have experienced overloading and low-voltage issues that will be corrected by this project. The line is expected to be in service by next spring.

EKPC filed an application for a Special Use Permit with the Forest Service in 2002 and an application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the Kentucky Public Service Commission in April 2005 and again in December 2005.

"Project delays already have exposed thousands of residents and businesses to the real possibility of cascading blackouts,” said John Twitchell, EKPC’s vice president of power delivery. “EKPC also has experienced costly generation impacts due to the limits of the existing system that this project is designed to relieve. This situation will only worsen until we complete the project.”

Plans call for 4.8 miles of the line to go through the Daniel Boone National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service, which manages public lands within the national forest, examined EKPC’s plans over a period of more than four years and found that the project will not have a significant impact on the forest.

The Forest Service’s review included several alternative routes, including one completely outside of the national forest.EKPC has agreed to a number of steps to minimize the impact on the national forest. Those include:

• Establishing 29 wetlands ponds.
• Sowing seven acres of native prairie grasses and establishing wildlife openings.
• Not cutting trees in most of the low-lying valley areas. As a result, nearly 20% of the trees within the corridor in Daniel Boone National Forest will not be cut.

In April, the Kentucky Public Service Commission approved EKPC’s plans for the line. The commission agreed that the line is necessary and found the EKPC had thoroughly examined other alternatives.

The transmission line will affect 14 property owners, including the Forest Service.