New Boardtown Power line to be discussed at BOC meeting

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ELLIJAY, Ga. – The Georgia Transmission Corporation, the transmission service provider Georgia’s Electric Membership Corporations, including Amicalola EMC, is deep into plans for construction of large power poles and lines for the “Whitepath 46kV sub transmission line” along with the “46 kV/25 kV 20 MVA Whitepath substation.”

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A part of the documentation delivered to citizens at the public meetings, this diagram shows what the new power poles could look like in relation to the road.

Documents provided to citizens during public information meetings say the new line and substation will improve service in the area as another station will provide a second ‘source’ near Whitepath and connecting to the existing #2 Ellijay substation.

Some citizens opposed to the lines are planning to bring the item before the Board of Commissioners next week according to an email sent out. Looking for a large group to join in for discussion, these citizens are hoping to bring concerns to the commissioners. However, it is not clear yet if they will be asking the Commissioners for help in opposing the lines.

According to representatives at the public meetings, the Georgia Transmission Corporation does not need to bring the construction project before the local county commissioners for approval before beginning construction. In fact, their provided documentation states they already have a planned schedule and are currently moving forward with acquisitions for the project. The schedule says that they will start clearing land for the line in 3rd quarter 2021 and construction will begin in 1st quarter 2022. The Corporation hopes to have service on the new lines beginning in the 3rd quarter of 2022.

Additionally, this is not an item on the commissioners’ agenda, but rather a plan by citizens to bring up discussions during the “Citizens Wishing to Speak” item of the meeting.

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The map was provided by the Georgia Transmission Corporation for the planned path of the Boardtown Road Power Line project.

The project calls for 10 miles of line with “steel and/or concrete poles” that will reach an average of 95 feet high (poles will be between 60 to 112 feet tall. They also require between 25 and 125 feet wide easements.

The $18 million project will begin at Ellijay #2 substation just south of Tabor Street and proceed North and then West before intersecting North Main Street. According to documentation, it will cross the Ellijay River at least two times along its path, following Boardtown Road most of the way.

Some of the concerns already voiced in opposition speak on clear cutting trees and extreme proximity to people’s homes.

Representatives at the meetings said that the Corporation has spoken with railway owners about following the rails, looked at traveling along Highway 515 as alternative path, and even considered burying the cable underground, but were not given permission to use the railway and found Boardtown Road to be the best current option.

According to their statement, “This approach was chosen because it meets the engineering, construction, operational, environmental, schedule, cost, electrical, and reliability requirements of the project.”

Three phase line adds to power troubles

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ELLIJAY, Ga. – While last night’s storm wasn’t as bad as some have been recently, Amicalola EMC is still reporting almost 2,000 homes without power today.

This major outage comes from collateral damage in the storm as Amicalola says that strong winds brought trees down on power lines this morning.

However, currently over 1,900 members are without power. The majority of these outages came from one major incident. Amicalola EMC issued a statement saying the outages are “primarily in northern Gilmer County where trees have brought a three phase line down in two places, resulting in 1,484 members out in that county.”

They did note that other outages are scattered throughout the service area, including Pickens County where 200 members are without electricity near the Pickens/Gilmer county line.

The company said that crews are working and all power will be restored as soon as is safely possible.

Citizens are reminded that they should never go near a downed power line and always assume they are still energized.

Authorities are continuing to help wherever possible and the Gilmer Public Safety Department issued a statement saying, “The Weather Prediction Center has identified a Slight Risk for excessive rainfall across the majority of north and central Georgia.”

Though authorities are noting an attention to possibilities, no indications of serious danger are being delivered. The large number of outages in Gilmer are from these two spots on a major line.

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