Balcony Falls - Skimmer

The Balcony Falls-Skimmer Electric Transmission Line is at the end of its service life and needs to be replaced to maintain reliability for customers.

Structure Height Comparison Tool

Built in the 1920s, two 115 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines need to be replaced to maintain electric reliability. The lines are in a 9.2-mile right of way corridor that runs through Rockbridge, Amherst and Bedford counties. The existing wooden H-frame and steel lattice structures will be replaced with a combination of brown, weathering steel H-frame and steel pole structures.

• Project area is 9.2 miles long
• Right of way width is primarily 125 feet wide with some 100-foot sections
• Average H-frame structure height is 46 feet
• Average lattice structure height is 80 feet
• 85 structures in the corridor
• Average height of structure in double-circuit section from Balcony Falls-Cushaw is 94.2 feet
• Average structure height in single-circuit section from Cushaw-Skimmer is 60.5 feet
• 74 total structures in proposed corridor
• Maximum structure height increase of 63 feet in Balcony Falls-Cushaw section
• Maximum structure height increase of 17 feet in Cushaw-Skimmer section

• Complies with mandatory standards to ensure safety, reliability and to meet future needs
• Minimizes impact to the community and environment
• Replaces aging infrastructure
• Reduces number of structures in the right of way