Construction kicks off for Creekview Interconnection Project
It may be winter, but just south of the Village of Eden, Wis., there’s a flurry of activity going on. Trees are being removed. Construction mats have been laid. Trucks are in the transmission line right-of-way. All of these activities are necessary for crews to get access to the right-of-way and make way for the new transmission line and substation called the Creekview Interconnection Project.
Several years ago, this rural landscape took a turn. The population grew, ever so slightly – and people began using more electricity. Planning engineers at ATC and We Energies noticed.
“The area’s electric transmission system is vulnerable to low voltages and power outages,” said ATC Project Manager, Barbara Mikolajczyk. “This project also will provide system redundancy and allow for maintenance outages when repairs are needed.”
What does that mean, exactly? Basically, the existing infrastructure can no longer adequately support the lower-voltage distribution system in the area. We Energies came up with a solution for this issue by proposing a new substation in the area to support the electric system’s reliability. To complement that, the existing electric infrastructure needs to be built to support that substation.
ATC submitted its plans for this new substation and transmission line to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in February 2015 and by fall of that same year, ATC and WE Energies had gained approval for the project. The project includes a 138,000-volt transmission line, which will provide service to the new We Energies substation. The transmission line will run from the substation east and then connect north for 9.3 miles along an existing 345-kV line.
Crew members from Henkels & McCoy continue to clear vegetation from the right-of-way to make room for the Creekview Interconnection Project’s new 138,000-volt line.
So what should residents expect to see in the coming months?
- In order to make room for the crews and their equipment, vegetation management work is needed – which is the first phase of construction for most ATC projects. Vegetation management in this region initiated in September and will continue through February 2017.
- ATC’s contractor, Henkels & McCoy, is placing large construction mats in the right-of-way to protect the ground underneath from heavy equipment that will continue to access the right-of-way throughout the winter months. Crews will move the mats from their northern locations in the project to the southern locations as the work progresses.
- The new substation will occupy a parcel approximately 425′ by 425′ located on the north side of CTH F, east of Greenway Road. That work will initiate in April 2017 and poles in the region will be erected around that same time.
Overall work on the transmission line infrastructure will continue with an in-service goal date of October 2017.
