Project Updates

We recently completed a multi-year, multi-phase project to improve electric reliability in Rock and Walworth counties. An aging, 30-mile 69-kilovolt line between substations in Elkhorn and the town of Rock was replaced with a 138-kV line. Most segments of the line were constructed in the existing right-of-way.  

More than 100 people attended an open house in Woodruff, Wis., on our Clear Lake-Woodmin project last month. Local residents and officials of Oneida and Vilas counties reviewed and commented on possible routes for a new, seven-mile, 138-kV transmission line between the Clear Lake Substation to a new substation west of Woodruff. The project is needed to bolster the electric distribution system in the area. 

Did you know?

Wind farm installations across the country this year are well ahead of the installations over the same period in 2008. The American Wind Energy Association recently announced that more than 4,000 megawatts of wind energy has been installed in the first half of the year, compared to the 2,900 added in the first six months of 2008.
	We have connected more than 400 megawatts of wind energy to the grid in Wisconsin, including 145 megawatts from the Blue Sky Green Field Wind Energy Center east of Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac County.

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

Cascade Update: 
Digital Subscriber Line Conversion Project Improves Communication

Cascade is our Maintenance Department’s work management system, used by employees as well as our contractors. Maintenance work and inspections performed by local distribution companies and alliance contractors is tracked through the Cascade system. Cascade provides a consistent exchange of equipment maintenance data between us and our workforce, resulting in a complex system configuration between our offices, LDC offices and the LDC/contractor mobile workforce.  Accurate and routine synchronizations of Cascade field computers is critical to ensure all inspections, corrective and preventive maintenance work is conducted and reported in a timely manner.  A majority of users access Cascade from about 200 field computers, and in the initial deployment of Cascade, analog, dial-up communication was used to exchange data.

Cascade field crews were experiencing increasingly inconsistent synchronization of data, and technological advances have made the use of the analog phone lines less common.  To improve communication speeds and synchronization reliability, we upgraded analog phone lines to digital subscriber lines. We have successfully upgraded communications at 16 sites so far, with two additional locations to be completed before year’s end. Extensive coordination with hosting local distribution companies and the local phone service or cable providers has lengthened the process, but the efforts have improved overall communication links for us and our business partners.

ATC in the Community

We will once again work with The Feather in New London this fall to help relocate an osprey nest in Waupaca County. A nesting pair has established its home perched atop some athletic field lights. After the three chicks born this year leave the nest, we’ll provide a platform, and volunteers from Great Lakes Line Builders will assist The Feather staff in relocating the nest to a safer location.

Three chicks hatched in this nest on top of a 70-foot athletic field light. Photo credits;  Pat Fisher, The Feather	Chicks from the nest were banded last month -- The North American Bird Banding Registry is used to study the movement, survival and behavior of birds.

It’s that time of year again – back to school!  Our company and employees in De Pere are contributing to the Service League of Green Bay’s Back-to-School Store to help low-income families in Brown County outfit their children with school supplies and clothing. Children in kindergarten through fifth grade are invited to “shop” the Back-to-School Store, which is arranged similar to a department store. Each child is paired with an adult personal shopper who helps him or her select new clothing and shoes, a backpack with school supplies, grooming kit and storybook.

We are one of 20 Milwaukee-area companies represented in Marquette University’s Business Mentor Program. HR Manager Terry Peterson and Strategy and Tariffs Consultant Mal Bertsch are working with business students to explore career choices, hone resume-writing and interviewing skills, and learn the importance of networking as a critical tool for effective job hunting.

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.   

ATC is a Green Tier company, selected by the Wisconsin DNR for demonstrating superior environmental performance and continual improvement.