{"id":355908,"date":"2026-06-30T16:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/355908\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T16:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:17:13","slug":"swepco-takes-first-steps-in-multi-year-effort-to-modernize-electrical-infrastructure-in-east-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/355908\/","title":{"rendered":"SWEPCO takes first steps in multi-year effort to modernize electrical infrastructure in east Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

MARSHALL, Texas (KSLA) – Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO)<\/a> has launched its first grid enhancement project supported by Texas Energy Fund<\/a> in Marshall.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first step in SWEPCO\u2019s efforts to modernize the system and improve reliability in east Texas without raising costs for customers. It\u2019s all part of a $200 million grant administered by the Public Utility Commission of Texas<\/a>, which Governor Greg Abbott announced earlier in June<\/a>. As part of the project, around 700 miles of powerlines will be upgraded, and nearly 200 circuits will be improved. SWEPCO officials say this will enhance reliability for almost 193,000 people living in 24 counties in Texas.<\/p>\n

The project in Marshall begins the first phase of replacing copper wire with stronger, more durable aluminum-alloy conductors and installing new utility poles designed to better withstand severe weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we analyzed our system, upgrading copper wire to more modern equipment stood out as an area that would have the biggest impact,\u201d said Adam Keeth, SWEPCO director of distribution engineering & reliability. \u201cBy replacing it with modern aluminum\u2011alloy conductors and installing stronger poles, we\u2019re building a system that can better withstand ice, wind, and long\u2011duration storms and deliver more reliable service to our customers.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"KSLA\"<\/a><\/p>\n

SWEPCO says the upgrades will:<\/p>\n

strengthen the local distribution networkimprove storm resilience across SWEPCO\u2019s Texas service areasupport long\u2011term reliability for homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses<\/p>\n

Work on the system will continue over the next several years, with the full project expected to be done by early 2031, SWEPCO says. The project will coordinate with around 3,000 miles of vegetation management work that\u2019s already been planned as part of a resiliency strategy. <\/p>\n

“Together, these efforts will modernize some of the oldest portions of the distribution system, rebuilding them to a more resilient, storm-hardened design within fully cleared rights-of-way,” SWEPCO said in a news release.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KSLA. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MARSHALL, Texas (KSLA) – Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) has launched its first grid enhancement project supported by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[126593,6944,27861,13847,126594,126595,58381,126596,126597,126592,27,58946,29,28],"class_list":["post-355908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-electrical-infrastructure-improvements","tag-governor-greg-abbott","tag-grid-reliability","tag-public-utility-commission-of-texas","tag-replacing-copper-wire","tag-strengthening-utility-poles","tag-swepco","tag-swepco-improvements","tag-swepco-improvements-to-grid-in-marshall","tag-swepco-project-in-marshall","tag-texas","tag-texas-energy-fund","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}