Duquesne Light Company starts construction on transmission line spanning Plum, Monroeville, Penn Hills

Duquesne Light Company has started construction on an electric transmission line spanning five miles through Plum, Monroeville and Penn Hills.

The project, dubbed the Universal-Plum Reliability Project, was split into four areas, and construction began the first week of January, according to a website dedicated to the endeavor.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the agency in charge of regulating utility services, approved Duquesne’s project in August 2019. The Universal-Plum project is part of Duquesne’s $1.5 billion investment to upgrade infrastructure over five years, a company spokeswoman said.

“The new transmission line will heighten reliability and increase our capacity to serve customers on the eastern side of Duquesne Light Company’s service territory, including customers located in Monroeville, Penn Hills and Plum,” said Ashley Macik, a spokeswoman for the company.

Macik said construction crews are generally working from east to west so work will finish in Penn Hills. Grading activity in all those areas is expected to wrap up by July and the project is expected to be completed in early 2022, she said.

The majority of the transmission lines will be hoisted in the air by 40 steel monopoles along a 3.7-mile route. Each pole will be anywhere from 65 to 135 feet tall. Duquesne Light said the average height is around 100 feet.

About 1.5 miles of the route will involve underground line equipment in Boyce Park.

Duquesne has said power outages are not expected for the project. Residents living nearby will notice more construction noise and traffic, the company said.

Residents living near the construction of a monopole can expect tree clearing, grading for construction roads and work pads, steel pole installations using cranes and securing new wires.

For information on the project, visit its website or email universalplum@duqlight.com.