Polk County Reliability Enhancement Project

Customers expect reliable electricity, and we are planning ahead to ensure we can power your lives today and tomorrow. Our electrical system is essential to meeting customers' needs.

Our goal is to produce and deliver reliable and cost-effective energy to communities. As part of that commitment, we are building a new substation and two new 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission lines in Polk County, Fla. This investment will provide greater electric capacity and enhance reliability for the region.

The project will directly connect Duke Energy’s Osprey Energy Center, in the city of Auburndale, to the company’s high-voltage electric transmission system. The Osprey Energy Center also connects to other utilities in Polk County and the region, and this project will provide greater support to the customers of those utilities.

Please see the interactive map for a detailed look at the corridors currently under consideration for the new transmission lines. Following public input, only one route will be selected for each line. Please note that the corridors are areas being studied for potential placement of the new lines. The width of the easements needed for construction and maintenance of new lines are often narrower than the corridors studied. Duke Energy will work with landowners to acquire the necessary land rights and negotiate fair compensation for those rights. Our goal is to design and select a route that safely and reliably serves the public, and minimizes impacts to homes, businesses, the environment and the community.

Osprey 230-kV Transmission Substation

A new substation is proposed at the Osprey Energy Center located at 1651 W. Derby Ave. in Auburndale, Fla. This substation will take the additional energy generated at the plant and deliver it throughout the region and the state through Duke Energy’s electric transmission system.

Kathleen 230-kV Transmission Line

A proposed new 230-kV transmission line will extend from the Osprey Energy Center approximately 30 miles west to the existing Kathleen substation in Polk County.

Haines City 230-kV Transmission Line

A proposed new 230-kV transmission line will extend from the Osprey Energy Center approximately 24 miles east to the existing Haines City East substation in Polk County.

The new lines will be built on single concrete or steel poles, about 90 to 110 feet tall. Construction is expected to begin in 2021, with the project expected to be in service in 2024.

Benefits to the Community

• Enhances the ability of Duke Energy and neighboring utilities to provide safe and reliable energy to homes, community facilities and businesses in the area
• Enhances capacity to continue to deliver reliable electricity to meet the growing energy needs of the region
• Ensures more flexibility for providing critical energy to communities in the region and maintains a robust system for supplying and delivering energy, which is integral to ensuring the continued economic prosperity of the region

Interactive Map

This map allows the public to explore the project area and view the potential routes of the new transmission lines. 
 

Next Steps – What to Expect

Public participation is a vital part of Duke Energy’s process for determining routes for electric transmission projects. Duke Energy hosted three informational open houses in Polk County in May 2018. The purpose of these events was to share more information about the project and get valuable input from property owners, local government and community leaders and others interested in the project.

Through June 15, 2018, the public provided input about the routes by attending one of the open houses, calling our toll-free line, emailing us, completing comment forms or providing input through the interactive map.

We expect to announce the preferred route for each of the two new lines in the fall. Our goal is to minimize impacts to homes, businesses, the environment and cultural and community resources.