RICHMOND—The State Corporation Commission on Friday approved the construction of two new overhead transmission lines by Dominion Virginia Power. The new lines will pass through several counties, including Southampton and Isle of Wight.

DVP says the 82-mile-long project is necessary in order to meet the future power demands of South Hampton Roads and the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

According to a press release from the SCC, the first segment of the project will be the construction of a 500-kilovolt transmission line between DVP’s Carson substation in Dinwiddie County and the Suffolk substation, a distance of about 60 miles.

In Southampton and Isle of Wight counties, the proposed route will mostly follow the path of an existing 115-kilovolt line, separating and rejoining in several places along the way in order to avoid homes and intersections.

Galvanized steel lattice towers, which would be 120 to 130 feet tall, would support the new power lines. Each tower would have a footprint of about 100 square feet.

The SCC said the second segment of the project would be a 230-kilovolt line from the Suffolk substation to the Thrasher substation in Chesapeake, a distance of 21.5 miles.

DVP estimates the total project cost to be $223.9 million. The company says it needs the work to be completed by the summer of 2011, in order to keep ahead of growing demand.