An $85 million improvement project is planned by Indiana Michigan Power for the electric transmission system in Berrien and Van Buren counties. I&M spokesperson Schnee Doyle tells us the Hartford Area Improvements Project will involve the replacement of 15 miles of transmission lines from Benton Harbor to Hartford, and then the replacement of 18 miles of lines between Hartford, Bangor, and South Haven.
“We will have highly skilled professionals out there working on these lines,” Doyle said. “These aren’t the normal lines that you see on the wooden poles at the street level. These are the higher lines, the taller ones that will be on the modern steel poles. So, these carry a lot of voltage.”
Doyle says this work will reduce power outages and lessen the risk of long-lasting outages.
“We’ll install the modern steel poles to replace the aging wooden steel poles, and some of those poles have been in existence and in operation since the 1950s.”
The work is scheduled to start next spring and be finished the following year. Doyle says any outages the project will cause will be communicated in advance to those affected. The work is scheduled to start next spring and be wrapped up in 2024.
