The Hoagland Power Line Route Isn't Decided Yet. Here's What Happens Before Nov. 13.

Richard Boys learned about the Lulu-Sorenson project when a neighbor of his, a landowner, got a letter about it in the mail. He helped organize a meeting in Hoagland on a Saturday in September, and WANE 15 reported that more than 100 people showed up to learn about the project for the first time. A letter from the group that came out of that meeting, the No South Route Coalition, said, "Many of us only became aware of the proposed routes nine days ago."

A month later, the most useful fact for anyone in southeast Allen County is that the route still doesn't exist. Indiana Michigan Power has a network of study segments on a map, a feedback deadline of Nov. 13, and a stated plan to pick one Preferred Route after that. By I&M's own description of its process, the details that can move a segment between now and then are the ones only people who live on the land know.

Where the project stands on Oct. 29

The Lulu-Sorenson Transmission Improvements Project would build about 75 miles of 765-kilovolt line from the existing Sorenson Substation southwest of Fort Wayne to a point near the Indiana-Michigan state line. WANE 15 reports that the possible routes reach into Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Noble, Steuben and Whitley counties. One alternative runs north toward Michigan on a path east of Fremont. Another crosses Hoagland and other towns south of Fort Wayne.

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the regional grid operator for 15 states, required the line as part of a long-range plan for a 765-kV backbone across the Midwest. MISO approved that phase of its Long Range Transmission Planning, called Tranche 2.1, in December 2024. MISO's project table lists the "Greentown - Sorenson - Lulu" line with a target in-service date of 2033 and an estimated cost of $1,310 million in 2024 dollars.

That background explains what the comment period can change and what it can't. Whether the line gets built was decided at the regional level. The open question is where it goes, and that question is the one Hoagland residents are being asked about right now.

How roughly 70 segments become one line

A letter from Rick Boys published by West Bend News counted some 70 study segments on I&M's online map. The I&M project team laid out how those pieces turn into a final route in a statement printed by WANE 15. The sequence looks like this:

1. Planners draw the first study segments from aerial imagery, development patterns, existing infrastructure, environmental resources, land use, engineering, constructability, and meetings with agencies and local officials.
2. The public reviews that segment network. The September open houses were this step.
3. Feedback from property owners, residents and agencies, plus field reviews, "may result in modifications to the study segments."
4. The modified segments get combined into route alternatives for more evaluation.
5. One Preferred Route is chosen, weighing feedback, community impacts, engineering, constructability, cost, land-use compatibility and environmental constraints.

Hoagland is between steps three and four right now. The team's statement adds that "it is not possible to determine whether a specific property will be affected" until the evaluation is finished. So nobody near Hoagland is on the route yet, and nobody is off it either.

I&M has been careful about what feedback can do. The company told WBOI it cannot promise a route change but is looking for ways to minimize impacts. Its Oct. 1 release said the extra time would go toward understanding "what we may not know about the communities and properties in the study areas."

The details a GIS map misses

Stephanny Smith, I&M's director of communications and engagement, gave an example to WANE 15: "I had one woman tell me they have a cemetery on their property. …It's very important for us to know that something as sacred as a cemetery is on that potential route so we can adjust." She said residents also raised farm drainage tiles and wetlands, and that locals "know a lot of things about those areas that we may not necessarily know at first, just by looking at topographical maps and GIS maps."

Smith listed the factors planners weigh. Most of them line up with things a Madison or Marion Township property owner can describe better than an aerial photo can:

• Current and proposed public and private land use
• Aesthetic and visual impacts
• Water quality, including wetlands, streams and water bodies
• Wildlife, vegetation and fisheries, including threatened and endangered species
• Soils and geology
• Community and neighborhood growth and development
• Historic and archaeological sites
• Existing infrastructure such as power lines, roads, railroads, pipelines and renewables
• Environmental and social justice impacts

At the open houses, residents were asked to send in information about their property, such as woods, ponds, livestock and structures, according to the West Bend News letter. A tiled field, a farm pond, a family burial plot or a woodlot are each a specific item a planner can put on a segment map. Those are the kinds of details the process describes as able to change a segment before step four.

What the coalition is asking for

The No South Route Coalition has asked for more than individual comments. Its main request has been a public question-and-answer forum in Hoagland before the route is chosen. "We are not asking I&M to agree with us or to prejudge the route decision," its letter said. "We are asking for a reasonable opportunity to understand the project and to be heard before that decision is made."

The Sept. 23 open house at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum was set up as information stations, with no open forum. The West Bend News letter described a line of some 1,000 people stretching into the parking lot and 12 stations to visit after signing in. Smith told WANE 15 that I&M would not hold any more open houses. The coalition met again on a Monday evening at 6:30 to plan next steps and kept pushing for a forum. As of the latest local coverage, no Hoagland forum had been scheduled.

Coalition member Natalie Foster told WANE 15 the group sees other corridors as better fits. She suggested a route farther south across county lines and along the Indiana-Ohio line, where "we don't have ponds" and the land is "already a little bit more cleared." She also mentioned the idea of following I-69, which she called "already a clear path." The coalition has also questioned who the power is for. An I&M fact sheet handed out at the open houses says transmission can help attract high-growth industries "such as data centers." Smith said the upgrade supports long-term growth that could also include schools, hospitals, housing additions and other businesses.

Hoagland isn't the only community speaking up. KPC News reported that Whitley County commissioners asked planners to keep the line out of their county, and that Butler Mayor Mike Hartman sent I&M a letter on behalf of his town. At a meeting Hartman arranged for elected officials, Katie Runkle, I&M's vice president of external affairs and customer experience, acknowledged that adequate advance notice was not provided. With objections coming from both the northern and southern corridors, the specific facts about a property are what separate one segment from another.

Four ways to get comments in by Nov. 13

The deadline used to be Oct. 9. I&M moved it to Nov. 13 after more than 1,000 people came to the two open houses. Some September materials still show the October date. Nov. 13 is the current one.

• Online: View the route map and submit feedback at IndianaMichiganPower.com/Lulu-Sorenson.
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 877-605-5554
• Mail: Attn. Maggie Beggs, American Electric Power, 1 Riverside Plaza, Columbus OH 43215-9921

A comment that names a segment and lists what sits on it, such as tile lines, a pond, a burial site, woods, livestock buildings or a home, gives planners the kind of detail Smith described.

What comes after the deadline

After Nov. 13, I&M says it will evaluate the feedback and select a Preferred Route, with the decision planned for late this year. KPC News reported that I&M has not said whether the longer comment period will push back that announcement. Runkle said landowners on the chosen route will be contacted before the general public announcement. Construction is expected to begin in early 2029.

That means the first sign of whether the south route was picked could come as a direct contact to specific Hoagland landowners, before any news story runs.

If you'd like a clear, appraisal-based picture of your property as the route decision gets closer, Morken Real Estate Services can walk through it with you. Request Your Home Valuation.