New Flint Energies substation in Houston County boosts power delivery speed and reliability amid booming growth.
KATHLEEN, Ga. — A new Flint Energies substation in Houston County is up and running, designed to get power to customers faster and more reliably.
John Nichols’ home sits on Moody Road right across from Flint Energies’ new substation. He has lived there for 10 years and says he thinks the growth around the area factored into the location of the substation.
“We’ve really never had a lot of electrical problems, but I understand why they put it in,” Nichols said. “They start putting in new homes and there’s a whole bunch of homes there and all the way out to Old Perry Road that’s all growing up.”
Marian McLemore, a vice president at Flint Energies, says growth is indeed the main reason for the new development. She says the substations help supply power quicker and more reliably.
“We’ll have a good idea based on the growth, especially here in Houston County, whether or not we need additional substations or additional equipment for capacity,” McLemore said.
McLemore says they follow a four-year plan for improvements, so the substation in Kathleen has been monitored for growth for a while. The new addition gives them 50 substations across the counties they serve, with most located in Houston County.
“75% of our meters that we serve, we serve almost 100,000 meters, so about 75,000 of those are located in Houston County,” McLemore said.
McLemore says after a jump in the customer base of over 20% since 2016, they aren’t expecting growth to slow down.
McLemore says Flint is working on another substation in north Houston County. They hope to have that station online by the end of this year.