Barneveld Military Ridge Interconnection Project
Project overview
ATC has received state regulatory approval to construct a new 69,000-volt electric transmission line along U.S. Highway 18/151 from the Hooterville Substation, just west of the village of Barneveld, Wis. to County Trunk Highway JG, south of the village of Mount Horeb. This portion of the proposed line would share the right-of-way and transmission structures with the forthcoming Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line Project. No new right-of-way is anticipated. As part of the project, ATC plans to construct a new 69-kV transmission line from U.S. Hwy 18/151, south of Mount Horeb to the existing Mount Horeb Substation, which would share the existing right-of-way.
Project components:
- Substations – ATC will construct and interconnect a new substation called the Barneveld Substation. ATC also will interconnect the new Military Ridge Substation and the existing Mount Horeb and Hooterville substations to the new transmission facilities.
- Transmission – A new 69,000-volt common route segment from the Hooterville Substation to County Trunk Highway JG will be approximately 11 miles and one route option connecting to the Mount Horeb Substation will be approximately 1 mile.
Project need
Projected load growth, constraints on the current transmission system, and necessary reliability improvements are all drivers for this project.
As the energy landscape continues to evolve, ATC remains committed to serving its customers which include local distribution companies, such as Mount Horeb Utilities and Alliant Energy. These utilities notified ATC of needed changes to their electrical delivery systems in order to serve their customers. Alliant is projecting additional load in the region and will be constructing a new substation called the Barneveld Substation to accommodate this load. Mount Horeb Utilities requires transmission enhancements for its new Military Ridge Substation to reliably serve its existing load. ATC’s Barneveld Military Ridge Interconnection Project will meet these needs and provide additional electric reliability for the region.
Additional information can be found on this Public Service Commission of Wisconsin webpage or by searching the PSC site under docket number 137-CE-194. The project cost will be approximately $14 million.
Project support
“Mount Horeb Utilities serves the electric customers within the village of Mount Horeb and the surrounding area. As the electrical engineering consultant for Mount Horeb, we worked with ATC to identify and develop new transmission access between downtown Mount Horeb and the Hooterville Substation. Without ATC’s proposed transmission project, Mount Horeb Utilities would need to build multiple additional electric distribution lines through the middle of the village or through Stewart Park to accomplish the same reliability for electric consumers.”
– Bruce Beth
President, Forster Electrical Engineering
“Alliant Energy provides service to thousands of electric customers in eastern Iowa County and western Dane County. Our company expects continued growth in the region and the new Barneveld Substation will strengthen the resiliency of electric service for residents and businesses in the area. The new substation and affiliated equipment will accommodate for future growth, boost capacity, and increase the reliability and dependability of our local and regional distribution network.”
– Alliant Energy
| Project schedule (Subject to change) | |
|---|---|
| Submit application to Public Service Commission of Wisconsin | April 2021 |
| PSCW approval | February 2022 |
| Start construction | September 2022 |
| Project in service | December 2023 |
Is this project part of Cardinal-Hickory Creek?
Apart from sharing a common corridor, the Barneveld project is completely independent of Cardinal-Hickory Creek and is instead being driven by two local distribution companies – Alliant Energy and Mount Horeb Utilities – both of which are customers of ATC. Each utility has notified ATC of anticipated load growth in the near future. The electric transmission infrastructure being proposed for this project to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin will accommodate that load growth and address constraints on the current transmission system along with necessary reliability improvements.
I already have an existing easement on my property. Will I need a new easement?
No additional right-of-way is needed for this project. However, some vegetation management will be needed within the selected route as part of our pre-construction activities.