July 21, 2023

West Penn Power is working to connect a pair of solar energy farms – located in Fulton and Franklin counties in Pennsylvania – to the electric grid. The farms are being developed by AES, a global power company, and are expected to generate 220 megawatts (MW) of clean, renewable energy when complete.

“We are committed to supporting the global energy transition to renewable resources and are pleased to work with AES to help facilitate the delivery of clean energy through the connection of these new solar projects,” said Carl Bridenbaugh, vice president, Transmission. “This work aligns with FirstEnergy’s long-term strategy of pursuing opportunities that help enable the transition to a clean, resilient energy future.”

Harnessing the sun in Fulton

The first project is a 70-MW solar farm that AES is developing in Fulton County. We are expanding the McConnellsburg Substation with a new terminal that will provide a connection point for the farm.

It’s always sunny in Franklin

For the second project – a 150-MW solar farm in Franklin County – West Penn Power is building a new substation that will serve as an interconnection for the farm. We also are adding a 378-foot loop to connect the substation to an existing 138-kV transmission line that runs between our Guildford and McConnellsburg substations, which will also receive upgrades as a part of the project. AES will construct a 138-kilovolt (kV) line from the solar farm into the new substation.

We expect to complete the connection work for both projects in late 2023, and the two solar farms are scheduled to be in service and delivering clean energy in early 2024.

The AES Corporation is a Fortune 500 company based in Arlington, Va. It has a regional office located in Conshohocken, Pa. As of May 2023, AES has 4,900 MWs of operating wind, solar and energy storage projects in the United States and is one of the nation’s leading renewable energy developers.