Project Updates

We kicked off a new project in the Northwoods this month. Minocqua-Woodruff area residents were invited to an open house to learn about the Clear Lake-Woodmin line proposed for the area. The seven-mile line will run from the Clear Lake Substation in the Town of Woodruff to a new substation to be built by Wisconsin Public Service Corp. west of Woodruff.  The new line will bolster the distribution system in the area to maintain local reliability.

The Highway 22 Substation in Shawano County is scheduled to go into service early next year. Construction will begin soon on two additional segments of the 50-mile Morgan-Werner West transmission line. Clearing will begin this month on the seven-mile segment from Highway 22 to Clintonville; construction on the 15-mile segment from Highway 22 to the White Clay Substation will begin in February.

Construction of our new headquarters facility in Pewaukee is well underway, and our general contractor is recycling 100 percent of the waste generated by the project. Construction, which began in April, so far has produced more than 300,000 pounds of cardboard, concrete, wood and office paper waste. The project, scheduled for completion in July 2009, is seeking gold certification from the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

Did you know?

Fly-ash is a by-product of burning coal – it is the ash that in the past would fly up a chimney. To avoid placing it in landfills, utility companies have been finding creative uses for fly ash for decades. We’ve found another use that provides even more benefits. On a recent transmission line project near Madison, fly ash was used to replace a portion of the Portland cement that would traditionally be used in transmission structure foundations. Since the manufacturing process used to make Portland cement creates carbon dioxide, the use of fly ash on this project reduced CO2 emissions by more than 300,000 pounds!  In addition, it produced a better quality, higher strength concrete and resulted in cost savings of more than $200 per structure.

Emergency preparedness gets a test – this is a drill!

Simulated tornadoes roared across eastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula on Oct. 21 and 22 as we tested our ability to respond to a natural disaster. More than 200 of our employees along with Alliant Energy staff, worked through a drill scenario that included reports of widespread fallen transmission lines and towers, impeded access to facilities and a fire in a large substation.

Spotlight on the environment

Green Teams in ATC offices are marking America Recycles Day (Nov. 15) by hosting a variety of fall clean-up collections. Employees in the Pewaukee and Madison offices will be gathering used tennis shoes for recycling into “Nike grind” – a ground-up material used to resurface athletic fields, courts, tracks and playgrounds. The De Pere office is partnering with Veolia Environmental Services to collect household hazardous waste. To learn more about recycling, check out the National Recycling Coalition Web site

ATC in the community

Lake Superior Community Partnership hosted a “billion dollar bash” in Marquette, Mich., late last month to celebrate $1.2 billion in investments pledged to Marquette County. While more than half of the amount was pledged by Cliffs Natural Resources, ATC projects and those proposed by our customer, Upper Peninsula Power, represent an investment of more than $20 million. According to the partnership, the investments will bring more than 730 jobs to Marquette County.

Invite an ATC representative to speak to your group

Let us tell you and your service group or professional organization more about ATC. Simply email 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.