Duke Energy is planning to unveil its proposed route for a 40-mile Foothills transmission line in the US in October.

The transmission line will link the western Carolinas region and Duke Energy’s new Asheville power plant in North Carolina to a substation, which is planned to be constructed in Campobello, South Carolina.

The 230kV power line is part of the company’s $1.1bn Western Carolinas modernization project which involves replacing Asheville coal facility with a natural gas power plant.

Duke Energy Western North Carolina regional general manager Robert Sipes said: "We’ve been listening closely to potentially impacted communities and landowners along the study routes and have heard overwhelmingly from them the need to expedite the review process to reduce the period of uncertainty for selecting the final route.

"We’ve expanded our team, accelerated the schedule and are committing to complete our comprehensive process for route selection by early October.

"We will fully consider all feedback and input as we finalize our route recommendation."

The project is expected to reduce emissions and water use in the region.