ATC

ATC announces third year of community planting program

Applications accepted now through Sept. 30

PEWAUKEE, Wis. – American Transmission Co. this month began accepting applications for their community planting program, now in its third year. The program is part of Grow Smart, which supports tree and vegetation planting in municipalities in ATC’s service area. Eligible cities, villages, towns, counties and tribes may apply for financial support for planting projects on public property within their community. Since the program’s inception, ATC has awarded nearly $130,000 to 94 eligible municipalities and counties within its service area.

To qualify, communities must commit that all current and future planting plans and urban forestry activities near high-voltage electric transmission lines will comply with ATC’s maintenance standards. “By applying for the community planting program, communities across our service territory have an opportunity to beautify their communities and plant trees outside of the electric transmission system right-of-way. This program helps communities understand that trees and transmission lines are an unsafe combination,” said ATC Environmental and Local Relations Manager Greg Levesque. “Keeping trees out of the right-of-way also keeps the public safe and the transmission system reliable.”

ATC is accepting applications through Sept. 30, and award recipients will be selected and announced by the end of the year. ATC will accept one application per community, and awards range from $100 to $5,000.

Additional information, including a brochure and eligibility information, is available on ATC’s Grow Smart website: atc-GrowSmart.com.

ATC named one of the top workplaces in southeastern Wisconsin for third year

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Top Workplaces list names 150 best area employers

PEWAUKEE, WIS. — American Transmission Co. has been selected as one of the 2015 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Top Workplaces in southeastern Wisconsin. The top workplaces are determined based on feedback from an employee survey conducted by WorkplaceDynamics, LLP, an organizational health and employee engagement research firm. This is the sixth year the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has published the list of top area workplaces, and this is the third time ATC has been named to the list. This year, ATC is number 4 on the list of midsize companies, up from its number 12 position last year.

ATC has 382 employees at its headquarters in Pewaukee, Wis. More than 80 percent of employees responded to the workplace survey in fall 2014, which asked about ATC’s corporate values, leadership and culture, as well as employees’ job satisfaction and overall feelings about working at the company.

“I’m very pleased to see that ATC employees have such a high regard for our workplace,” said ATC President and CEO Mike Rowe. “Being recognized as a Top Workplace is an honor, especially because it is our employees who are the judges.”

Last fall, ATC also ranked among the nation’s top-25 medium-sized Great Places to Work as published in FORTUNE magazine. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel will publish its complete list of top workplaces this weekend.

PSC issues order for ATC’s North Appleton-Morgan transmission line

Project includes 345,000- and 138,000-volt lines, substation work

MADISON, Wis. – The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin issued the final order spelling out terms and conditions to be met in the construction of American Transmission Co.’s North Appleton-Morgan Transmission Line Project in Outagamie, Brown, Shawano and Oconto counties.

“The approval of the North Appleton–Morgan project by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin represents a major step forward in strengthening the electric transmission grid in northeastern Wisconsin,” said David Hovde, senior local relations representative for American Transmission Co. “We will continue to work with landowners and other interested parties as we move into the construction phase of the project.”

Landowners who live along the project route will be contacted by ATC real estate representatives beginning this summer in preparation for a summer 2016 construction start.

As part of ATC’s Bay Lake Project announced in 2012, North Appleton-Morgan includes:

•  A new 345-kV line and a new 138-kV line between the North Appleton Substation on French Road in the Town of Freedom in Outagamie County and the Morgan Substation in Oconto County (about 45 miles),
•  Expanded facilities at North Appleton and Morgan substations,
•  A new Benson Lake Substation at the site of the Amberg Substation in Marinette County to accommodate a large voltage-control device and
•  Additional work at 11 substations in northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

ATC met with landowners, local officials and other interested stakeholders over nearly two years to develop route alternatives for the new transmission lines. Single-circuit, self-supporting steel monopole structures will be used in most locations. The typical height of the structures will be 85 feet on the 138-kV line and 120 feet on the 345-kV line.

Estimated cost of the project is $327 million.

Plans for the project will follow this general timeline:

Property owner notifications                                       June 2015

Begin easement negotiations                                     Late 2015

Construction start                                                      July 2016

In-service date                                                          Second quarter 2019

Note to editors: A high-level map of the project’s route, along with other information, is available at www.BayLakeProject.com

The project application and other documents associated with the regulatory review process are available at www.psc.wi.gov under Docket No. 137-CE-166.

 

Milwaukee County transmission line project now in service

Project improves electric reliability in western Milwaukee County

PEWAUKEE, Wis. – American Transmission Co. and We Energies Wednesday placed into service a transmission line project that will improve electric system reliability in western Milwaukee County. The project involved construction of two transmission lines and a new We Energies substation near Watertown Plank Road and 93rd Street, adjacent to the existing We Energies Milwaukee County power plant and substation. Approximately 90 percent of the transmission lines were constructed on municipal or public property, and a portion of the line is underground.

The new substation and transmission lines provide for the area’s growing electric needs and the critical nature of the Level 1 adult and pediatric trauma centers located within the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center complex. The medical center calls for a higher level of electric service reliability, one that includes a backup source for electricity in the event one of the two lines experiences an outage.

“Restoration activities will continue for the coming months, including seeding along the bike path and near the railroad tracks along Underwood Creek Parkway.” said William Aeschbacher, ATC project manager. “We also are working with a local group on prairie restoration in a 4-acre area along the Milwaukee County Oak Leaf Trail, including removing the invasive teasel plant, which has been thriving there for many years, and restoring the area with native prairie species.”

ATC filed an application to construct the project with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in February 2012, received approval in March 2013 and began construction later that year. The project is projected to come within the PSC-approved budget of approximately $23 million.

Note to editors: A map and additional project information is available at atc-projects.com.

PSC gives verbal approval to ATC transmission line project

North Appleton-Morgan includes 345,000- and 138,000-volt lines, substation work

MADISON, Wis. – The three commissioners of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin gave verbal approval to an electric reliability project in northeastern Wisconsin today. At an open meeting, the commissioners agreed on the need for the North Appleton-Morgan Transmission Line Project and approved a route through Outagamie, Brown, Shawano and Oconto counties.

“The approval of the North Appleton – Morgan project by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin represents a major step forward in strengthening the electric transmission grid in northeastern Wisconsin,” said David Hovde, senior local relations representative for American Transmission Co. “We will continue to work with landowners and other interested parties as we move into the construction phase of the project.”

As part of ATC’s Bay Lake Project announced in 2012, North Appleton-Morgan includes:

• A new 345-kV line and a new 138-kV line between the North Appleton Substation on French Road in the Town of Freedom in Outagamie County and the Morgan Substation in Oconto County (about 40 to 48 miles depending on route),
• Expanded facilities at North Appleton and Morgan substations,
• A new Benson Lake Substation at the site of the Amberg Substation in Marinette County to accommodate a large voltage-control device and
• Additional work at 11 substations in northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

ATC met with landowners, local officials and other interested stakeholders for nearly two years to develop route alternatives for the new transmission lines. Single-circuit, self-supporting steel monopole structures would be used in most locations. The typical height of the structures would be 85 feet on the 138-kV line and 120 feet on the 345-kV line.

Preliminary estimated cost of the project is $307 to $327 million; a more refined cost estimate will be included in the PSC’s final order for the project, which is anticipated to be issued within the next month.

Plans for the project will follow this general timeline:
Property owner notifications ……… June 2015
Begin easement negotiations………..Late 2015
Construction start……………………….July 2016
In-service date……………………………Second quarter 2019

Note to editors: A high-level map of the project’s route, along with other information, is available at www.BayLakeProject.com

The project application and other documents associated with the regulatory review process are available at www.psc.wi.gov under Docket No. 137-CE-166.

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