Kevin Murphy, Leader Correspondent
American Transmission Co. wants the state to approve construction of two high-voltage power lines through Shawano and Oconto counties, between substations near Appleton and Morgan. The project is estimated to cost $307 million.
Filing the construction application May 1 with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission began the state’s yearlong review process to determine if there is a public need for the power lines and, if so, where they would be routed.
When originally announced in 2012, the Bay Lake Project included a $427 million, 345-kilovolt line between Appleton and Ishpeming, Mich., in two components: Appleton to Oconto County and Oconto County to the Upper Peninsula.
However, the line to the Upper Peninsula was shelved so the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator, a regional planning authority, could review long-term transmission line needs for changing conditions in the Upper Midwest and Manitoba, ATC spokesperson Jackie Olson said.
“The Presque Isle power plant (in Marquette, Mich.) was one of the main drivers for Bay Lake. We assumed (in 2012) that Presque Isle would continue running since WE Energies and Wolverine Electric Cooperative planned to keep it in operation…. Now WE Energies wants to close the plant, but MISO wants to keep Presque Isle open,” Olson said.
ATC turned its attention south, to the North Appleton-Morgan project, and wants to build 345-kV and 138-kV lines from Appleton to the Morgan substation, located in the town of Morgan about one mile south of the intersection of County Roads CC and C — about about eight miles northeast of Bonduel.
Olson said the two power lines would share a 180-foot-wide corridor for about 90 percent of the project’s length, which is 40 to 48 miles depending on the route the PSC selects.
The 345-kV line would be strung from 120-foot-tall steel poles; the 138 kV line from poles 85 feet tall, according to ATC.
Two lines are needed to address the electric system’s maintenance needs, Olson said.
“We have a lot of load on the system around-the-clock, seven days a week, and few windows to provide maintenance. … That’s one of the main factors in designing (the two lines),” she said.
ATC’s David Hovde expressed more dire consequences if the project is not built.
“The North Appleton-Morgan Project is needed to address reliability concerns, changes in generation and demand in the region, and the evolution of a wholesale electricity market,” he said in a prepared statement. “Without these reinforcements, areas of northeastern Wisconsin, including Green Bay and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, would be vulnerable to widespread outages.”
ATC held well-attended open houses for the project last spring, but public input did not result in changing the proposed routes, Olson said. Instead, ATC refined the application in preparation of filing it May 1.
State law requires ATC to propose two routes for each major power line project, and ATC presented a preferred and an alternate route that balance impacts on property owners, the environment and cost factors.
ATC presented east and west routing options for the project but stated no preference for either option in the line’s northern section through Shawano and Oconto counties.
“The west option provides more opportunity for shared right-of-way and fewer environmental impacts, but could impact more properties. The east option, while shorter and straighter, could have more environmental impacts,” according to a prepared statement ATC released.
ATC preferred the eastern option in the route segment just north of Appleton and the west option in the center section of the project.
ATC estimates the cost of the project between $307 million and $327 million, depending on the route selected.
The project would also upgrade 11 substations in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula.
The Morgan substation would expand more than any other, enlarging by nearly a quarter-acre east and west beyond its current size but staying within the 12-acre property ATC owns, Olson said.
Once the PSC deems the construction application complete—a process that has taken more than six months for similar-sized power lines—an environmental impact statement will be drafted and presented for public comment, and a local public hearing will be held.
ATC anticipates the PSC will decide on the project within a year. If approved, construction would begin in 2017, and the line would be placed in service in 2019.