Georgia's (U.S.) electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) completed 862 electric transmission construction projects, including 334 miles of new high-voltage power lines, from 2000 to 2005 as Georgia led the nation in fastest-growing counties, Georgia Transmission Corp. has announced.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced that Georgia had 18 of the country's 100 fastest growing counties during the five-year period. To meet this growth, Georgia's utilities added to the state's grid of high-voltage electric transmission lines and substations that transmit power from plants to the local utilities that deliver electricity over smaller distribution lines. EMCs are customer-owned utilities that provide electricity to 4.2 million residents, nearly half the state's population, in 157 of 159 counties.

Georgia Transmission, a not-for-profit company, plans, builds and maintains transmission facilities for the electric co-ops. The company released a list of completed projects, pointing out that its construction schedule is similar in scope to some of the nation's largest utilities. The list of completed construction projects includes:

• 69 new transmission line projects, adding 334 miles of line.
• Rebuilding 95 power lines.
• Building 97 new substations.
• 466 substation modifications.
• $602 million worth of construction.

"All Georgians are connected by and depend on a single statewide network of transmission lines," said Mike Smith, Georgia Transmission's CEO. "This finite capacity is strengthened each year by our utilities to keep pace with growth. Without new lines, facility shortages would trigger longer and frequent outages for new and existing customers alike. If neglected long enough, transmission shortages can create emergency conservation, brownouts and blackouts."

Georgia's 16,000 miles of transmission lines and other assets are jointly planned and operated through a unique set of Integrated Transmission System agreements among Georgia Transmission, Georgia Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities. Each utility owns and maintains separate transmission assets.

"Most Georgians benefit from electric reliability and rates that are better than the national average," said Paul Wood, CEO of Georgia EMC, the cooperatives' statewide association. "We are able to keep up with population and per capita energy use because thousands of property owners and community leaders work with us to build these lines. This teamwork is one of the state's untold success stories."

Georgia Transmission plans to build more than 230 miles of lines in the next three years.