BROOKLYN — AES Indiana wants to build a new power line in Morgan County, and it hopes the local population can help figure out the best path across the hilly terrain in north-central Morgan County.
The power company — just purchased in a $10.7 billion deal announced Monday by a consortium led by BlackRock — held two meetings last week to present preliminary information on the proposed transmission line AES wants to build from its power plant on Blue Bluff Road to a not-yet-built substation just east of Monrovia, adjacent to Google’s data center project.
The two invite-only meetings were limited to select “community representatives,” including officials who attended from the county, Jefferson Township, Monroe Township, Morgan County Soil and Water Conservation District, Monrovia and Brooklyn, as well as the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office.
The first was held last Wednesday, Feb. 25, at the Festival Building in Monrovia. The second was held last Thursday in Brooklyn, and The Correspondent was invited to attend the meeting, where representatives from AES presented those in attendance with an overview of the proposal.
“This is the beginning stage,” said AES Indiana communications manager Jordan Patterson to open the meeting in Brooklyn.
Robert Steele, AES Indiana’s project manager for the proposal, then detailed the particulars of the transmission line, along with the process for determining a route of this sort.
AES Indiana’s plan is to construct a roughly 10-mile, 345-kilovolt (kV) powerline with steel line posts towering between 115 and 195 feet and a 200-foot wide right-of-way easement along the yet-to-be-determined path.
“We would like to finalize the route by the fall of this year,” Steele said.
But before that happens, AES wants to hear from those who live in the area, those who know the terrain and what factors AES should be mindful of when planning the route.
Last week’s meetings were part of that initial outreach effort.
When asked last Thursday if AES Indiana’s Eagle Valley power plant can generate enough power to add a 345kV line — enough to power about 800,000 homes — Steele said yes.
When asked if the line was for Google’s new data center, Patterson said the project “is really about regional reliability.”
According to AES Indiana’s information handout, the company acknowledges that “large-load customers, including data centers, are evaluated as part of future planning,” but it insists transmission projects of this sort “are designed to support the broader electric system.”
“Any large-load customer must complete a separate planning, approval and cost-allocation process before service is provided,” AES states.
And amid concerns of further rate hikes, AES further states “that if new, large-load customers drive the need for infrastructure upgrades, those costs are assigned to those customers and not to existing residential and small business customers.”
AES hopes to start construction in the fall of 2028 with the line in service by 2029.
The power company is planning public open houses in the county this spring and summer, with the first planned for late April.
