Our customers expect reliable electricity, and we are planning ahead to ensure we can power your lives today and tomorrow. 

At Duke Energy, we take system reliability seriously and our electrical system is essential to meeting customers' needs. Our goal is to produce and deliver reliable and cost-effective electricity to the communities we serve. As part of that commitment, we are building a new transmission line to provide greater capacity and enhanced service reliability for Jacksonville and eastern North Carolina.

Grants Creek Substation

A new 230-kilovolt (kV) substation is being constructed in the Grants Creek community near Jacksonville, N.C. Construction of the substation began in 2018 and is targeted for completion in spring 2020. 

Grants Creek to Jacksonville Transmission Line

We will also construct a 12-mile 230-kV transmission line connecting the new substation with the Jacksonville substation, located off of Gum Branch Road. In late 2017, the North Carolina Utilities Commission issued a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) for the project, allowing construction of the line to begin.
 
Building a new transmission line is similar to other construction projects, involving numerous crews, trucks and equipment at work during daylight hours.

Next steps – what to expect:

• Transmission line construction crews started installing foundations and transmission structures along the corridor this spring and will continue this work into spring 2020.
• Clearing of danger trees and stump grinding in the right of way continues along the project corridor. This work will continue through the fall of 2019.
• Foundation and equipment installation at the substation will continue into spring 2020.
• There may be lulls in activity between phases of construction. 

Completed steps:

• The substation site has been cleared and grading activities were complete in January 2019. 
• Vegetation clearing of the right of way was completed in fall 2018.
  
  Right-of-way acquisition was completed in late 2017.
  
• The North Carolina Utilities Commission’s CPCN was granted in August, 2017.
• A request for approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission was filed in spring 2016.
• The preferred route of the new 230-kV transmission line was selected and announced in February 2016. 
• The public comment period ended Oct. 18, 2015.
• A public meeting was held on Sept. 17, 2015, in Jacksonville, N.C. 

To learn more about this project:

• You may contact us by email at CarolinasEast@duke-energy.com, or
• Call the toll-free line at 866.297.5886
• Please indicate that your questions pertain to the Grants Creek – Jacksonville project

Local investments:

We're investing approximately $37 million in the transmission system in the Jacksonville area. In addition to the construction of the new transmission line and substation, upgrades to other existing transmission and substation facilities in the area will help overall system reliability and provide a more robust path to move power across the region. These projects are critical to ensuring continued reliability of the electric system and maintaining the integrity of our transmission facilities that deliver power to homes, businesses and schools in this area as well as Camp Lejeune and Jones Onslow Electric Membership Corporation.