ScottishPower has completed a substantial half-a-million pounds project to rebuild the 13km Kelso-Heiton power line in the Scottish Borders, as well as building a new spur line to serve the community of Springwood Village, near Kelso.

Speaking at a public meeting chaired by John Lamont MSP in Springwood Village today (Wednesday 2 April), Andy Bird, Customer and Performance Director at ScottishPower, outlined the company’s recent work.

Mr Bird said: “Over the past few months ScottishPower has been working on a project to construct a new power line running between Spylaw and Grahamslaw in the Scottish Borders. Following discussions with local representatives from the Springwood Village area, including John Lamont MSP, we also agreed to undertake a project to rebuild the spur line that supplies Springwood Village. This work has been carried out to enhance the reliability of the power supply in the area and underlines our commitment to provide a robust, dependable, electricity network.

“We are also planning a further significant investment on the network in this area during 2009, and outlined our plans to the local community and its representatives today. This will involve the renewal of a further 11km of overhead power lines, at a cost of just under £500,000.”

The new lines also include a modern automated protection system which will greatly assist engineers in locating any future faults, reducing the response times for attending to issues. This system is especially of benefit in rural areas, where power lines can be situated in remote locations.

ScottishPower will switch the supply over to the new lines next Thursday (10th April) and the old lines will decommissioned thereafter.

Media Information: Paul Ferguson 0141 636 4557 / 07702 665 924