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Plans to Develop $100 Million Transmission Control Center in Louisiana Announced by Governor Edwards and American Electric Power

Published January 20, 2022

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and American Electric Power Chairman, President, and CEO Nicholas Akins announced a $100 million investment in the development of a new Shreveport Transmission Control Center by AEP, which manages the nation’s largest electricity transmission system (STCC). The project will create 20 direct new jobs with average salaries of $115,000, as well as retain 20 existing jobs in Shreveport. According to Louisiana Economic Development, the project will generate 63 indirect jobs, totaling more than 80 new jobs in the Northwest Region.

AEP, based in Columbus, Ohio, plans to build the 77,000-square-foot facility on 30 acres in Shreveport. The STCC will control the operations of AEP’s transmission system in the Southwest Power Pool regional power grid, as well as the operations of AEP’s transmission system in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) power grid, in collaboration with the AEP Transmission Control Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. The facility will also house the real-time operational technology hardware and software needed to assess, monitor, and support AEP’s entire national transmission grid.

The STCC will include a new substation, additional electric grid infrastructure, and cutting-edge technology. The site’s construction will begin in the first quarter of 2022, with an expected start date of operations mid-year 2023.

Resilient Technology Park, near I-20 and Greenwood Road, is one of more than 100 available industrial sites certified by LED. The STCC will be located in the park’s northwest quadrant of 313 acres.

AEP is one of the largest electric utility companies in the United States. It owns or operates more than 60 generating stations across the country, totaling approximately 30,000 megawatts. AEP is the parent company of Southwestern Electric Power Company, the leading electric utility serving the greater Shreveport area as well as parts of Texas and Arkansas.

The state offered AEP a competitive incentive package, including a $1 million performance-based award for infrastructure costs, to secure the project in Shreveport. Furthermore, the company is expected to participate in the state’s Quality Jobs program.