FirstEnergy Plans $800M Ohio Grid Upgrades as Power Demand Grows
FirstEnergy has announced plans to invest nearly $800 million in electricity grid upgrades across Ohio, targeting infrastructure improvements aimed at supporting rising power demand and improving system reliability.
The investment includes approximately $294 million for projects led by American Transmission Systems Inc. (ATSI), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy. A major portion of that funding will support construction of a new substation in Clark County where two major transmission lines intersect. Additional upgrades include replacing circuit breakers and modernizing high-voltage lines across several northern Ohio counties.
Another $490 million will be invested through Grid Growth Ventures, a joint venture between FirstEnergy and Transource Energy. That initiative will focus on building nearly 200 miles of new high-voltage transmission lines designed to improve electricity flow and support growth in the greater Columbus region.
The projects were selected through the PJM Interconnection 2025 Regional Transmission Expansion Plan process. PJM Interconnection, which coordinates electricity transmission across a 13-state region in the United States, approved the upgrades as part of broader efforts to strengthen grid reliability and address rising electricity demand.
According to Mark Mroczynski, president of transmission at FirstEnergy, the investments are intended to ensure the grid can support population growth, business expansion and increasing electricity needs across the region.
The announcement comes as FirstEnergy is also seeking approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to adjust outage reliability standards for some of its utilities. That request, which would allow longer average restoration times and more outages per year, has drawn opposition from several Ohio municipalities and consumer advocates.
A regulatory decision on the proposal is pending.
Source: cleveland.com
