TULSA, Okla. — PSO crews are preparing to overhaul miles of transmission lines in areas of South Tulsa and Jenks.
The current wooden poles will be replaced with more modern steel poles.
WATCH: PSO'S PLANS: Crews prepare overhaul of transmission lines in parts of Tulsa and Jenks
“It’s really great to replace some of that equipment. Make it more reliable, a little bit more durable, for things like Oklahoma weather,” Matt Rahn, a spokesperson for PSO said.
Tuesday night, the company hosted an open house, discussing with neighbors, plans to replace a slew of power poles and transmission lines, in areas of South Tulsa, and Jenks.
“This is improving our grid. This is what we do. This is serving our customers, giving them safe, reliable energy,” Rahn said.
2 News listened to Thomas Butler. He lives in the area that will see improvement, and its a welcome change for him.
“We’ve had more outages in the last couple of years than before,” Butler said.
Rahn says the cost of this project is lumped in with usual energy bills. No one should see increases because of the construction. However, neighbors could see some indirect costs as things get rolling.
“I live on a pretty hilly lot, and I’d hate to see those big trucks driving through my yard and trying to get back there, because they might tip over,” Butler said.
Rahn says the construction will start in February and last about a year. 2 News Oklahoma asked him how crews will keep things neat and tidy.
“It could mean some of our crews might have to get into some backyards, to do some work there, but I think the important thing to remember as far as any kind of impact is … we’re gonna leave it how we found it,” Rahn said, “We’re gonna, come in, replace the poles, and when we’re all done, it should be all done and ready to go.”
Transmission line projects often come with skepticism.
2 News has covered at least two projects met with some questions.
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Though in this situation, PSO hosted an open house to answer questions. It seems the transparency sat well with neighbors.
“I thought [the open house] was very helpful, because there were forestry people here, there were construction people here,” Butler said.
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