BATESVILLE, Miss. ― The Tennessee Valley Authority has identified the preferred route for a new transmission line that would provide for growing electrical load and increase power reliability in the areas of Batesville, Charleston, Coffeeville and Oakland, Mississippi. 

TVA will invest about $18 million to build 16.9 miles of 161-kilovolt transmission line from Tallahatchie Valley Electric Power Association’s North Oakland substation to TVA’s Coffeeville substation. The transmission line would consist primarily of steel, single-pole structures centered on new 100-foot-wide right of way. This preferred route is one of several proposed at a virtual open house held from Nov. 19 through Dec. 21, 2020. A map of the project and additional information are available on the TVA website at www.tva.com/energy/transmissionprojects.

The selected route is expected to have the least impact on the area, based on public input from the open house and additional evaluation of other factors, including social, environmental and engineering impacts. A National Environmental Policy Act review is also pending.

The project will require new right of way. TVA will meet with property owners along the proposed right of way to obtain easements for construction, operation and maintenance of the line. Property owners would still own the property and be compensated for the easements at fair market value.

TVA is expected to begin surveys in fall 2021 and start acquiring easements in summer 2022. Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2023 and be completed in summer 2024.

TVA is investing over $2 billion in transmission system improvements across the service area between 2021 and 2025 to build the energy grid of the future that will continue to provide clean, low-cost, reliable power. For more information about TVA and its 88-year mission of service to the Tennessee Valley, click here.