ATC seeks approval to build transmission line

Co. filed an application on Oct. 13 with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to build an approximately 5.3-mile, 345,000-volt electric transmission line called the Pleasant Prairie-Zion Energy Center Transmission Line Project.

The northern end point of the line will be the Pleasant Prairie Substation. The southern end point will be the Zion Energy Center Substation in the city of Zion, Ill. The cost of the proposed project is approximately $31 million.

“This project will help relieve transmission congestion and strengthen the electric system by building an additional interstate transmission connection between Wisconsin and Illinois,” said Mary Carpenter, local relations representative for ATC. “It will also provide economic benefits to utilities and electric consumers by enabling the most efficient generators to supply power to the regional energy market.”

ATC must obtain approval to construct the line from both the PSCW and Illinois Commerce Commission. Two alternate routes were submitted to the PSCW for the Wisconsin portion of the line. The PSCW docket number is 137-CE-161. The application for the Illinois portion of the line, which was submitted to the ICC on Sept. 29, included a preferred route and two alternatives.

“Because the distance between substations is less than six miles, there are a limited number of corridors that would be suitable for a 345-kV transmission line,” said Carpenter. “State regulators will evaluate the project’s cost and benefits, and if approved, select the final route.”

ATC began public outreach for the project in early 2011 and hosted a public information meeting in Wisconsin in April 2011. If approved by the PSCW and ICC, construction of the new line would begin in 2013 with an anticipated in-service date of 2014.


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