Hamilton - ButlerArea Improvements

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Town of Hamilton Power Outage Nov. 14.

In order to support the reliability of energy service to the Hamilton area, Indiana Michigan Power must temporarily interrupt power to much of the Hamilton area, and your location is expected to experience the outage.

DATE: Monday, Nov. 14

TIME: Approximately 7:45 a.m to 4 p.m.

This outage is necessary for Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) to perform needed repairs and maintenance to the transmission line that provides energy to much of the Hamilton area. This work is necessary to reduce the possibility of future power outages, particularly over the coming winter months.

I&M understands there is no “good” time for a power outage. I&M worked with Hamilton town officials to determine a day and timeframe that would cause the least disruption to our customers. If weather or other factors prevent I&M from safely performing the work on Nov. 14, the work will be performed on the following Monday, Nov. 21.

In the event of cold temperatures, the Town of Hamilton will have a warming station at the Town Hall council room, 900 S. Wayne St.

I&M has experienced previous outages caused by weather and other factors on the decades-old line that delivers energy to the Hamilton area. The work on Nov. 14 is specifically designed to improve the reliability of the line. I&M is also progressing on a larger project involving the area, the Hamilton-Butler Area Improvements Project. This project will ultimately allow for a second line to provide an alternative means of delivering energy to the town in the case of a future outage. Details of this project are available at IndianaMichiganPower.com/HamiltonButler.

Contract Land Staff (CLS) serves as I&M’s right-of-way representative for the Hamilton-Butler Area Improvements Project. If you want to reach out to a right-of-way agent with immediate questions, please call Andy Pack with CLS at (219) 916-6210 or andy.pack@contractlandstaff.com.

Some of the repair work will be done along roadways. Because the transmission line also runs through farm fields, crews will gain access to some poles by exiting from roadways and passing through fields. Landowners may want to consider harvesting crops that are ready to be harvested prior to our work on Nov. 14.

I&M understands that this planned work can be an inconvenience, and we appreciate your patience as we work safely to perform this work to help support reliability of your energy service.

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The Hamilton-Butler Area Improvements Project involves:

• Building about 8 miles of new power line traveling east from Hamilton to County Road (CR) 77 south to CR 16 and west to CR 75 and then following the railroad tracks into Butler
• Rebuilding about 8 miles of line in the company’s existing right-of-way located just east of CR 61 between Butler and Hamilton
• Rebuilding the Butler Substation located near the intersection of S. Federal Avenue and Walnut Street in Butler

These improvements increase reliability, lessen power outages and speed recovery of service when outages occur. Company representatives determined the proposed route for the new 8-mile power line after gathering and reviewing input from community members during a feasibility study announced last fall to assess possible upgrades to the local power grid. As part of that feasibility study, company representatives hosted a public open house in September 2019 for landowners in the area.

Project Updates

October 2022: Right-of-way communications are ongoing. Construction is underway on this project and is scheduled to conclude in early 2024.

April 2020: Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) announces an approximate $51 million investment to upgrade the electric transmission network serving customers in northeastern DeKalb County.

September 2019: Feasibility study announced and public open house held for new build section.

Map

Project Map (PDF)