A three-year energy grid improvement project for Georgia Power infrastructure in Gilmer County has come to an end.
Contractors wrapped up final stages of the local Grid Investment Project earlier this month. Now, all Grid Investment Program work planned for Gilmer and Pickens County is complete, confirmed Marie Bertot, Georgia Power spokesperson,
“While Georgia Power crews regularly maintain and upgrade the energy grid every day, work under this program (went) beyond the regular process to address under-performing equipment and strengthen power lines, making the grid more resilient,” Bertot added.
Massive spools of red power line casing, electrical trucks with extended cherry pickers and crew members holding stop/go signs were common sights along Ellijay and East Ellijay roadsides as the grid improvement work, which began in 2020, moved along.
Some of the areas that were covered include North and South Main Street, Legion Road, Talona Road, Industrial Boulevard, Old Highway 5, Highways 382 and 282 and parts of Coosawattee River Resort. Underway in several other Georgia counties, the entire statewide Grid Improvement Project is expected to run $1.3 billion. The power system improvements for Gilmer County included: upgrading almost 160 miles of power lines, upgrading more than 1,005 power poles to make them more resilient against severe weather, installing nearly 40 miles of power lines underground and installing 139 smart devices.
Bertot said that included service upgrades to businesses and homes, as well as service improvements for Gilmer County, Ellijay and East Ellijay government facilities. The project only focused on Georgia Power infrastructure and did not include equipment owned by Amicalola EMC, she confirmed.
“We have been very deliberate in these investments, analyzing the area’s performance data and trends to ensure that we’re putting our resources in the right places,” said area manager Bryan Griffin.
“We are also leveraging technology that can help prevent power outages, and when interruptions occur, allows us to restore power faster for our customers.”