Illinois Commerce Commission approves ATC transmission line and substation
ATC to seek regulatory approval in Wisconsin
Pewaukee, Wis. – American Transmission Co. on Dec. 20 received approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission for the southern portion of the Wisconsin-Illinois Electric Reliability Project.
The ICC approved ATC’s preferred route of the project and substation, with components that include constructing a double-circuit, 345,000-volt transmission line to connect to an existing line in southern Pleasant Prairie, Wis., and connecting that line to the ComEd transmission system in Illinois through a new substation on the north side of Rosecrans Road (Hwy. 173) in the Village of Wadsworth.
The approximate 3-mile transmission line addresses the potential risk of cascading outages under certain operating conditions, and also would accommodate the increasing power flows occurring from Wisconsin to Illinois.
ATC also is required to file an application with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin for the northern portion of the proposed transmission line. That filing is anticipated to be made in January 2017.
“Approval from the ICC on this project is a major step forward in providing a reliable, alternative power path in this region,” said Barbara Mikolajczyk, ATC project manager. “We will soon present our project to Wisconsin regulators and look forward to a similar decision from the PSC.”
The project is estimated to cost approximately $55 million. If approved, construction could begin as early as spring 2020 to meet a proposed in-service date later that same year. Additional information can be found on the ICC’s website and on the PSCW’s website.
A map of the project can be found here and additional information about ATC and our projects can be found at atc-projects.com.