Berea College has filed a response to an eminent domain lawsuit by East Kentucky Power Cooperative as the utility seeks to build a new substation and transmission line. Nick Comer is the external affairs manager for the utility. He said a substation in east Madison County serving about 41-hundred customers is in danger of becoming overloaded.
“During the January 2025 extreme cold weather, high electricity usage caused substation equipment to operate near its capacity. So EKPC is taking steps to prevent outages happening from overload of that substation,” he said.
In a statement, a school spokeswoman said the transmission line would run through Berea College Forest and require the condemnation of the property of eight landowners. According to the statement, the transmission line could also impact the city’s water supply and damage threatened or endangered species. Comer said nobody would have to move and they have communicated with local residents.
“What we heard a couple of years ago at a public meeting that we held in Berea was that there was concern about proximity to the Pinnacles hiking area there on Berea is property, so We've stayed about a mile away from the nearest overlook,” he said.
The Berea College spokeswoman declined an interview request, citing the pending litigation.
