Project Updates

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin is examining our construction application for the Rockdale-West Middleton transmission line project. Once the PSC determines that our application is complete, a year-long regulatory review, including opportunity for public comment, will begin.  The 345-kV line is proposed to run between the towns of Middleton and Christiana and will reinforce the entire transmission network in Dane County. Interested parties can track the regulatory review by visiting the Case Management section of the PSC’s Web site, http://psc.wi.gov.  Enter docket number 137-CE-147.

The 1,564th (and final!) structure on the Arrowhead-Weston line from Wausau to Duluth was erected last month near Bennett, Wis. The first tower in the 220-mile line went up three years earlier. The line is scheduled to go into service in early 2008.

Work crews are in clean-up mode on the Ellinwood-Sunset project in Oshkosh. Steel poles were modified and an additional circuit installed on a four-mile stretch of 138-kV line along Highway 41 in Oshkosh. The project was needed to reinforce the major link in the transmission grid between Fond du Lac and Appleton.

Commissioning of the Cypress Substation in Fond du Lac County is under way. The substation will connect to the grid 200 megawatts of wind energy generated by the We Energies’ Blue Sky Green Field renewable energy project. That project helps meet Wisconsin’s goal of having 10 percent of its energy generated by renewable sources by 2015. 

NERC calls for more generation, transmission

Arrowhead-Weston line February 20,2006

In its recently released long-term reliability assessment, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation says the nation’s power grid will need to be expanded in the coming decade as growth in demand exceeds the pace of resource additions.

NERC estimates peak demand will reach 896,000 megawatts by 2016, with generating capacity of 989,000 megawatts, resulting in a reserve margin of 9.4 percent. (Reserve margin is the percentage by which available capacity is expected to exceed the forecast for peak demand.) Reserve margins vary across the country, but there is general agreement that they should range from 12 to 15 percent to ensure reliability.

Did you know?

The electric utility industry adopted more stringent forestry practices in transmission line rights-of-way following the widespread eastern power outage in August 2003. That blackout was caused, in part, by a tall trees coming into contact with transmission lines. In the past, utility companies may have practiced more flexible forestry policies, but making exceptions to allow tall-growing trees compromised reliability. Since transmission lines act as an electrical highway, an outage can affect thousands of people, and vegetation-caused outages are preventable.

Utilities are now subject to significant fines if an outage is caused by trees coming in contact with transmission lines. Our policy, and the industry standard, is simple: no trees in the “wire zone” of the right-of-way, and only selected, low-growing species in the “border zone” between the wires and edge of the corridor. To keep the right-of-way clear, we do vegetation management on all corridors on a five-year cycle.

The area below electric lines must be clear of trees for safety and access. If trees contact the lines, they can conduct electricity toward the ground - and even to an individual on the ground. If children climb the trees, they could come in contact with the lines.