Project Updates

The new, 16-mile Cranberry-Conover electric transmission line is energized and providing much-needed support to the electric system serving the North Woods. The line, which runs between the Cranberry Substation south of Eagle River and the new Lakota Road Substation near Conover, links transmission facilities in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The connection reduces costly constraints on the existing system, which was subject to overloading and potential service interruptions as demand for electricity increased in the area.

Construction begins this month as we rebuild a 100-year-old power line originally designed to carry electricity from hydro-electric dams on the Upper Peshtigo River to the Green Bay area. Landowners and local officials attended an open house in late June to learn more about the Crivitz-High Falls reliability project.

Construction continues on the Gardner Park-Central Wisconsin and Morgan-Werner West projects in Marathon, Waupaca and Outagamie counties. Construction on the last major segment of the Gardner Park-Central Wisconsin line will begin this fall. Landowners who live along the route from the Whitcomb Substation near Wittenberg to the Caroline Substation in the Town of Pella in Shawano County are attending an open house this month to learn more about the project.  The event is July 9 in the Town of Grant hall.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin last month approved our 35-mile Paddock-Rockdale line in south central Wisconsin. The line, to be built largely on an existing right-of-way, will extend an existing connection into Illinois and allow local electric distribution companies access to lower-cost power produced in the region. Construction will begin soon and we're hosting an informational open house at the Janesville Town Hall on July 23 to talk with landowners about the construction work. For more information, contact John Garvin.

Construction will begin this summer on the Fitchburg-Verona project which includes a new substation in Fitchburg called the Oak Ridge Substation and a 6-mile, 138-kilovolt transmission line that will connect Oakridge to the existing Verona Substation located near the intersection of Highways M and PB. This new line is essential to strengthening reliability in the rapidly growing areas of southern Dane County and northern Green County, where usage is growing at an annual rate of more than twice the statewide average.The anticipated project completion date is June 2010. We are having a pre-construction open house on July 16 at the Candlewood Suites in Fitchburg. For more information, contact Charles Gonzales.

In The Community...

We once again helped to sponsor the recently concluded Badger State Games in Madison. The summer games run the gamut from archery to wrestling. Modeled after the Olympics, the games provide competitive opportunities for amateur athletes. The games annually attract participants

from all Wisconsin counties.

Miller Lite Ride for the Arts, Sunday June 11, 2008

Sunday, June 11 was a perfect day for a bike ride. More than 50 ATC employees and family members joined 6,500 other riders for the 2008 Miller Lite Ride for the Arts in Milwaukee.  The ride is a fund raiser for the United Performing Arts Fund  that supports 35 professional performing arts groups. In April, employees donated $5,700 to UPAF, which the company matched dollar for dollar. This year ATC was nominated for the Robert W. Baird Outstanding Achievement Award in Employee Giving.

ATC was a gold level corporate sponsor of the Dane Country Breakfast on the Farm, held June 14 at the Kalscheuer’s Dairy Farm located north of Waunakee. It is a 250-acre, family-owned farm that milks 85 cows.

Did you know?

Pickerel frog.

The Pickerel frog is a species of concern in Wisconsin. While surveying a transmission line right-of-way in Iowa County last month, one of our environmental project managers happened across this specimen. The Pickerel frog is particularly sensitive to pollution, and is found in relatively unspoiled habitat with cool, clear water.  To learn more about this species, and to hear a recording of the frog’s croak, visit the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute Web site.