Project overview

Also known as the Jefferson County Reliability Project, this project involved the construction of approximately 17 miles of new 138-kilovolt transmission line connecting the Stony Brook Substation in Waterloo to the Jefferson Substation located outside the city of Jefferson. Upgrades to several area substations and an upgrade to an existing line from the Stony Brook Substation to the Box Elder Substation in Medina were also completed as part of the project.

The population of Jefferson County has grown by 14 percent since 1990 and is projected to continue to grow. This growth translates to a higher demand for electricity. During the past 15 years, there have been no significant improvements made to the transmission system in the area, and electricity supply constraints were projected to worsen if the transmission system was not reinforced to accommodate the electric growth. This project completes an electrical path of medium capacity lines around the county, and improves the ability to ensure continued electric service in the event of an outage on a portion of the network by creating an alternate path for electrical flow.

ATC was required to submit two route alternatives as part of its construction application to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. The PSC approved the project July 20, 2006 and the line was placed in service Oct. 12, 2009.