AES celebrates opening its largest Ohio substation, promising over 2,000 local jobs

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ohio (WKEF) — AES Ohio opened its new substation on Tuesday, October 8. The company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate its AES Ohio Fayette Substation, which is the largest it’s ever built.

ASE Ohio President Tom Raga said the new substation took two years to build. It will provide power to multiple new companies and projects in the area, which will bring over an estimated 2,000 jobs.

“We’re excited for the Fayette County community, the jobs are going to completely change people’s lives. It will help the overall community; whether it’s property taxes or people who weren’t working who now are, we’re happy to be a part of it by making sure the Honda LG Plant has the power they need,” said Raga.

He credited JobsOhio, the Dayton Development Coalition and the AES Ohio economic development team for making the collaboration possible. Raga highlighted the difficulties of working after COVID-19, including supply chain and delivery issues.

“For us, it was an altogether effort, where our contractor partners and AES team members figured out ways to engineer and overcome those challenges,” said Raga.

The opening of the substation is only the first step in a multiphase plan for the area. Phase two will be a connected distribution substation and phase three will be another one.

“Phase two and phase three of our projects will build reliability and resiliency for everyone in the community. What you see in front of you today [Tuesday] is for the economic development side. The next two phases are going to keep the lights on for everybody in the community all the time,” said Raga.

Ken Zagzebski, AES utility president, and Nikki Krebs, senior project manager, both talked about the new substation.

“It’s a fantastic project, you can see it all behind us. Nikki is responsible for the construction of it, it’s incredible,” said Zagzebski. “The people in our communities, LG Honda, our contractors, all of our employees, so many people came together to build this in record time.”

“It’s a great opportunity for us to work with all of our partners. Everybody has participated and contributed to the execution of the substation. I’m excited for what is can do for Fayette County,” said Krebs.

Senior project manager Barry Lucas discussed phases two and three, their expected role in the community and the projected finish dates of 2026 and 2028, respectively. The company planned the locations of the substations for areas where it sees potential.

“The plant is going to bring roughly 2,000 jobs. There are a lot of support businesses that go with that, restaurants and homes,” said Lucas, “It will help support the Jeffersonville area.”