MARSHALL, Texas — Southwestern Electric Power Company launched its first grid enhancement project supported by the Texas Energy Fund in Marshall, Texas. This marks the beginning of a multi-year initiative aimed at modernizing electric infrastructure and increasing reliability throughout East Texas and the Panhandle at no additional cost to customers.
The initiative is funded by a $200 million grant managed by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which Gov. Greg Abbott announced earlier this month. The comprehensive project will update roughly 700 miles of powerline infrastructure and enhance nearly 200 circuits. These efforts will improve service reliability for approximately 193,000 Texas customers across 24 counties.
The initial phase in Marshall focuses on replacing copper wire with more resilient aluminum-alloy conductors and setting up new utility poles built to endure severe weather conditions.
“When we analyzed our system, upgrading copper wire to more modern equipment stood out as an area that would have the biggest impact,” said Adam Keeth, SWEPCO Director of Distribution Engineering & Reliability. “By replacing it with modern aluminum‑alloy conductors and installing stronger poles, we’re building a system that can better withstand ice, wind, and long‑duration storms and deliver more reliable service to our customers.”
The infrastructure upgrades are designed to achieve several key outcomes:
Strengthen the local distribution network
Improve storm resilience across the SWEPCO Texas service area
Support long-term reliability for residences, schools, medical facilities, and commercial operations
Construction will progress across the region during the next several years, and officials anticipate full completion by early 2031. The infrastructure improvements will be synchronized with roughly 3,000 miles of vegetation management already scheduled under a broader resiliency strategy. Combined, these initiatives will modernize some of the oldest sections of the distribution system by rebuilding them to a storm-hardened design within cleared rights-of-way.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.