TVA gains property for Obion fuel plant

The Tennessee Valley Authority has gained approval to take 7.71 acres of land in Obion County for a transmission line to serve the ethanol plant near Obion.

A federal judge in Memphis signed off the order of possession on June 18.

The line would extend from TVA's existing Union City-Tiptonville 161-kilovolt transmission line, located about one mile south of Troy, to the new Obion Substation, which is located about three miles south of that line near the intersection of McDonnell Road and the Illinois Central Railroad.

The transmission line would consist of steel-pole structures centered on a new 100-foot right-of-way.

Ethanol Grain Processors is nearing completion of a processing plant north of Obion. Gibson Electric Membership Corp. serves the area through its Troy substation, which would become overloaded with the additional 10 megawatts of industrial load. Gibson EMC is planning to build the Polk Substation to serve the added industrial load.

TVA plans to build about three miles of transmission line to power the substation.

The project is a few months behind schedule. TVA had expected when the project was announced in August 2007 that construction would be under way in June and in service by August.