Independence and Bet-Tech Team Up to Improve "The Grid"

In the spring of 2015, Independence Excavating and the Bet-Tech Construction Company, Inc. continued their partnership—working for FirstEnergy’s Large Transmission Projects Program. The program implements power grid improvements dictated by “PJM” which is a regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia. FirstEnergy has allocated roughly four billion dollars over the next five years to improve their transmission grid.

The Oakmound to Waldo Run 138 kilovolt transmission line near Clarksburg, West Virginia will provide added electrical reliability to the West Virginia power grid and provide critical power to the many natural gas facilities in the area.

Independence’s scope includes installation of approximately nine miles of access roads through the steep and unforgiving West Virginia terrain to get concrete, towers, and line crews into the remoteness of the Appalachian foot hills. To perform the work, Independence crews are also cutting and filling more than 70 construction pads for erecting transmission towers, installing wire pull pads, and will be restoring those areas after energization.

The project is slated to be in-service in the spring of 2016 and all activities completed by July 2016.