Project Updates

We recently energized a 345-kilovolt line between substations in Outagamie, Shawano and Marathon counties. This is a significant milestone in the Gardner Park-Central Wisconsin and Morgan-Werner West projects. A 138-kV line between Badger and Clintonville substations in Shawano and Waupaca counties also was energized last month. Construction of the last segment of the Morgan-Werner West line continues on schedule and will be placed in service later this year.

Construction continues on our project to upgrade and rebuild a 27-mile stretch of power lines between Iron River and the Aspen Substation in the Town of Florence in Forest County, Wis. Last month, crews removed 250 lattice steel towers, 12 wood pole structures and more than a million feet of conductor! New steel poles are being erected to upgrade the double-circuit line to 138 kilovolts as part of our Conover-Iron River-Plains project. It is our practice to recycle or re-purpose transmission line structures.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin last month approved our application to rebuild an 18-mile, 69-kV electric transmission line to connect the Brodhead and South Monroe substations. The new line will be a vital improvement to the electric transmission system serving the area. Construction is scheduled to begin late next year and is projected to continue through summer 2011.

The new Oak Ridge Substation in Fitchburg was energized and began serving customers in the area last month--two weeks ahead of schedule!  The substation is part of the Fitchburg – Verona electric system upgrade project. Construction on a six-mile, 138-kV transmission line to connect
the new substation to the Verona Substation is scheduled to begin in early August.

Did you know?

Seven programs in Wisconsin and Michigan are the recipients of more than $1 million in grants from the US Dept. of Energy to address the market and deployment challenges of wind energy described in a recent DOE report. Among the challenges identified: investment in a national transmission grid, siting and environmental issues, workforce development and better regional planning. Recipients of some of the largest grants include more than $300,000 each to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to integrate wind energy systems into the power engineering education program and to UW-Milwaukee for a Southeast Wisconsin Wind Energy Educational Collaborative.

We celebrate Earth Day, Arbor Day

Employee volunteers who make up our Green Teams organized Earth Day events at all of our work locations. Our employees in Cottage Grove learned about square foot gardening, an efficient and economical way to grow flowers, vegetables and herbs. Employees watched DVDs to learn about the concept and how to construct a square foot garden; then put that knowledge to use building one that is now available to employees. Some of the plantings in the square foot garden include Thai hot peppers, broccoli, cilantro, radishes, lettuce and mini eggplant. To learn more about the method, check out this web site.

ABOVE: Left to right: Khalid Khan, Pierre Pham, Bryan Pratt attach the grid to the frame to make a square foot garden.   RIGHT: De Pere employees built Leopold benches. Participating employees paid for the cost of materials, built 29 benches and donated eight to area recreation groups.

We sponsored, along with Wisconsin Public Service, an Arbor Day event at the Paine Art Center and Gardens  in Oshkosh. More than 550 students toured the gardens, which serve as horticultural galleries of varied designs and contain thousands of plant specimens.

Customer Connections - Mark your Calendar

• Aug. 20 – Network customer meeting – ATC Madison office

• Sept. 16 – Upper Peninsula Business Briefing – Marquette, Mich.

• Nov. 19 – Network customer meeting – ATC Pewaukee office
  
  Check out our Generator Interconnection Guide on our web site.

ATC in the Community

Temporary tattoos were just part of the fun during the Party for the Planet at the Milwaukee County Zoo, which we sponsored last month. Guests were able to choose their body art from among five migratory birds:  ruby-throated hummingbird; mallard; Wilson’s warbler, ivory-billed woodpecker; and great blue heron. Bookmarks featuring the Kirtland’s warbler, an endangered species; and packets of wildflower seeds also were distributed to the 13,000 zoo visitors who attended the two-day event. Nayo Parrett, left, of our environmental department, assisted party-goers with their tattoos.

Invite an ATC representative to speak to your group

Let us tell you and your service group or professional organization more about ATC. Simply e-mail us at localrelations@atcllc.com and indicate a topic area you're interested in, such as new projects, environmental commitment, vegetation management or electric transmission. We'll work with you to schedule a speaker for an upcoming meeting.