JACKSON, Ohio — The Ohio Power Siting Board will hold a public hearing Tuesday, Oct. 27, on AEP Ohio Transmission Co.’s proposed Baku-Gavin transmission line, a roughly 51-mile, 765-kilovolt line that would carry power to the planned data center campus at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site in Piketon.
The hearing is set for 6 p.m. at the Jackson Middle School Auditorium, 21 Tropic St. in Jackson. The venue was moved from Jackson High School. The siting board must approve the line before construction can begin, and members of the public can testify for or against the project at the hearing.
The line would run from the proposed Baku Substation near Piketon to the Gavin Substation, crossing Pike, Jackson and Gallia counties. In Pike County, the route passes through Marion, Union and Scioto townships and Stockdale. In Jackson County, it crosses Bloomfield, Franklin and Scioto townships. In Gallia County, it crosses Cheshire, Huntington, and Morgan townships and Vinton.
The line is being built to serve the PORTS Technology Center data center campus planned at Piketon. The Baku Substation and the Baku-Gavin line are named in PJM Interconnection’s filing with federal regulators (FERC docket ER27-126-000) covering the campus, which the filing ties to roughly 9,570 megawatts of data center demand, with gas-fired generation planned at the “Gavin” end of the line.
AEP says the developer has committed to paying the transmission costs for the project.
Environmental groups opposed to the project are holding two information sessions ahead of the hearing. The Ohio Environmental Council, the Buckeye Environmental Network and Save Ohio Parks will hold a virtual session Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., and an in-person session Tuesday, Oct. 27, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Sixth Sense Brewing, 275 Portsmouth St. in Jackson, ending shortly before the hearing begins.
Virtual Info Session
October 20, 6:00-7:30 PM
Zoom registration link
In-Person Session
October 27, 4:00-5:30 PM
Sixth Sense Brewing
275 Portsmouth St., Jackson
RSVP link
The project’s case file, including route maps and filings, is available from the Ohio Power Siting Board at opsb.ohio.gov.
