Project Updates

We recently energized a five-mile power line in Walworth County, the first portion of a multi-phase, multi-year project to upgrade the electric transmission system from 69,000 volts to 138,000 volts in Rock and Walworth counties. The new line runs along the I-43 corridor between substations located on the southwest and northeast sides of Delavan, Wis.

Construction is about to begin on the transmission line between the Rockdale Substation in southern Dane County and the Paddock Substation in Rock County.  The Paddock-Rockdale line is the first of its kind in the Midwest, where regional transmission lines have almost exclusively been built to enhance reliability. While this line also will improve reliability, economics drove the decision to build. Local electric utilities will save through improved access to the wholesale electricity market, and those savings will be passed on to end-use electricity customers. 

Poles are up and wires are being strung north of New London as the Morgan-Werner West project reaches about 50 percent completion. The 50-mile, 345-kilovolt line is needed to relieve overloaded facilities in the Fox Valley and Green Bay areas. Its companion project, Gardner Park-Central Wisconsin, stretches from Wausau to the Shawano area, and is about 75 percent complete.

A crew from Par Electric attaches insulator strings to the cross-arms of a structure on the Morgan-Werner West line.

Arrowhead-Weston earns engineering award

Our Arrowhead-Weston transmission line project has been recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers – Wisconsin Section with an engineering achievement award. Six criteria are used to judge nominated projects, including service to the well-being of people and communities; uniqueness; pioneering aspects in design and construction; economy; exceptional use of materials and a balanced regard for utilitarian and aesthetic values. The line was energized in January --  ahead of schedule and within budget.

ATC in the Community Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve north of Green Bay was the scene of a youth hunting safety and training day, presented by the Green Bay Duck Hunters Association. ATC helped sponsor the Youth Waterfowl Day, which featured demonstrations on duck and goose calling, field hunting, water hunting and dog training.
The GB Duck Hunters came to the rescue at our De Pere office earlier in the summer. Window washers flushed a mother duck out of a lower-level window well. Upon further investigation, a nest with 10 ducklings was spotted in a shrub among the rock landscaping. Gary Fontaine of the duck hunters association corralled mom and babies and relocated them to Barkhausen.	This mother duck and her brood were relocated from a shrub outside ATC’s De Pere office earlier this summer. The nest was in below-grade landscaping rocks, which would have been hazardous to the ducklings when leaving the nest.

We are a sponsor of the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center’s Hidden Valley Art Show Sept. 19-21, in Brookfield, Wis. Built in 2002 adjacent to an ATC transmission line corridor, the center is home to a variety of performing and visual arts. Check out the art show and center here.

Did you know? It may look pretty, but purple loosestrife is an invasive species that blocks out native vegetation and degrades wildlife habitat. Purple loosestrife is hardy and prolific – a single mature plant can produce up to 2 million seeds each year! Disturbing the soil around the plant can cause its spread; clipped or trampled stems can product roots and shoots.
Purple loosestrife was introduced in North America in the 1930s as an ornamental garden perennial.	Construction crews clean equipment to avoid spreading purple loosestrife.
During construction, we take care to avoid the spread of purple loosestrife. We remove existing plants from the right-of-way, minimize ground disturbance and clean equipment and vehicles.