A 25-mile transmission line is planned to be built through eastern Henderson County, from the Reid substation on the site of Big Rivers in Webster County to a substation in Warrick County, Ind.
Officials with the project say that it came about after the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, of MISO, completed an analysis of its system in 2022 and determined the transmission line was needed to improve durability and reliability of the system in this area.
The project is being called RIKY, or the Reid to the Indiana Kentucky border, said Michael Bruno the project manager with LS Power, a subsidiary of Republic Transmission, which won the low bid from Big Rivers. The transmission line will be 345 kV.
Bruno said that MISO regularly conducts an analysis of its system to determine where improvements are necessary. In 2024, this project was one of many in MISO’s portfolio that needed to be addressed, Bruno said. Big Rivers also advocated for the improvements, Bruno said.
After the request for proposals were submitted, Republic won the bid with an $88 million cost containment analysis, which means that Big Rivers is responsible for the payment up to $88 million and Republic is responsible for costs above that threshold, Bruno said.
In an interview with the Hendersonian Thursday, Bruno said the reasons for the project boil down to making the system more durable and more reliable. He said energy officials are looking to a future when there will be more demands on the infrastructure, and the transmission line will allow for a smoother transfer of electricity.
There’s also an element of congestion relief, he said. Currently, there are a lot of transmissions occurring in the area, Bruno said. Having another transmission line is like having a little highway in which electricity can move electricity back and forth between substations, Bruno said.
If recent history is any indication, numerous people in the county will be frustrated by the project. But those who work the land may be the most unsettled, especially if poles are placed in the middle of fields, making it harder to navigate the large machinery used by local farmers.
Having poles in the middle of fields “is devastating” for farmers who use wide machinery and GPS guidance, said Robbie Williams, who farms thousands of acres in Henderson County. He said it’s a “crazy idea that farmers can just dodge around pole locations” with ease.
A pole placed in a field essentially turns that one field into two when it comes to a farmer using wide machinery on it, Williams said. If not that strategy, then the operator would need to turn the machine numerous times to get around the pole, Williams said.
Williams is also concerned about the transmission lines needing maintenance and how the equipment to do that maintenance will affect fields. Depending on the season and the equipment, Williams fears that damage to the soil or ruts in the fields could occur, which could take years to get back in shape.
He said local electricity providers have always been considerate of farmers’ needs and have worked with them, but those who work on transmission lines have not been.
Another farmer, Bob McIndoo, who owns Windimere Farms, has been a part of the Henderson Economic Development board of directors in the past and said he’ll rejoin the board in January. This project, he said, puts him in an awkward spot. For one, he said he always hates to give up hundreds of acres of farmland for any reason, but on the other hand knows that a greater power supply is needed for future development.
McIndoo said he met with officials working on the project Friday morning and found them “very cordial” and very good to work with. But he agreed with Williams that placing a pole in a field will make farming that field much more difficult. “Oh, absolutely,” McIndoo said.
He mentioned the difficulties of navigating a 120-foot-wide piece of machinery in a field with a pole in it. And he also briefly discussed concerns of navigating drones, which are used to spray herbicides, over and under the transmission lines.
But, he said, project officials told him that they would attempt to locate poles on ditch banks and property lines and not in the middle of fields, McIndoo said.
The structures that hold the high-voltage wires are called monopoles and can stand as tall as 130 feet but in this project but will probably be around 110-115 feet, Bruno said. He added that the normal spacing along the course of the route between monopoles is about 750 feet but can be longer or shorter.
Bruno said that the electricity that moves into Indiana will be picked up and then distributed by Centerpoint. But electricity will also flow from Indiana to the Reid substation, too, for disbursement and then “the electricity will go where it needs to go,” he said.
That means that where there is a need, electricity will move there, and according to Stephanie McCombs, the manager of member and corporate communications for Big Rivers, “there is a need for electricity in Henderson County, and the infrastructure needs to be there.”
She pointed to the very power intensive industries in Henderson County and “having that pathway to pull power off the grid is very important.”
Bruno described the project, not as one specifically for Henderson County or southern Indiana, but as a regional transmission project. It won’t be built for any specific type of energy, such as coal, solar or wind, and is meant to ensure that infrastructure is robust so that the connection to the grid is strong, he said.
Currently, there are three different route proposals, with one being the preferred, Bruno said. He said, however, that much of what becomes the final route will be determined by working with the landowners along the route and finding ways to work with them for locations on their property.
McIndoo said he believes project officials are pretty well set on the preferred route, though. And he said it’s a done deal that the transmission line is coming, citing a utility’s ability to use eminent domain.
The land will not need to be rezoned, and the monopoles can be erected after coming to agreements with property owners to obtain easements, Bruno said. He said landowners will be paid based on the appraisals of the land.
Bruno said about 100 landowners have been sent letters about their land being a part of the transmission line path. More than 700 letters in total have been sent to those whose land could be a part of the project or who live nearby to the planned transmission line. RIKY officials are inviting them to public information sessions occurring on Nov. 17 and Nov. 18.
Bruno said he is aware of recent energy battles in the county, including wind farms that had been proposed to be built in eastern Henderson County as part of the Rock Bluff Energy Project, but he said this project is different.
“This project will match much more with the current landscape and infrastructure,” Bruno said.
Additionally, Bruno and McCombs said data centers have no connection to this project. McCombs said MISO conducted its system analysis in 2022, which predated any local discussion of data centers. And Bruno repeated that the project’s goal is to help relieve local electricity congestion.
He said the goal to start construction is 2028 with a goal to have it in service by 2030.
Both the Nov. 17 and Nov. 18 meeting will be from 4-7 p.m. The Nov. 17 meeting will be at the lodge of the Brain Injury Adventure Camp, 1001 Shooting Star Court, Robards. The Nov. 18 meeting will be at the public building at Sandy Lee Watkins Park.
