Major projects update

Arcadian Substation – Asset Renewal

The Arcadian Substation Rebuild Project consists of 138-kV and 345-kV asset renewals of early 1970’s vintage equipment and the reconfiguration of the 345-kV bus from a straight bus to a breaker-and-a-half. The project is designed to: (1) address asset renewal needs by replacing obsolete and/or poorly-performing equipment; (2) improve reliability performance and operational flexibility; (3) conform to industry best practices; and (4) efficiently provide for future transmission needs.

The cost of the project is estimated to be $45 million and includes:

Asset renewals
- Control house
- One power transformer and retirement of one power transformer
- 24 relay panels
- 11 – 345-kV circuit breakers
- Eight – 138-kV circuit breakers
- 29 – 345-kV disconnect switches
- 13 – 138-kV disconnect switches
345-kV bus reconfiguration from straight bus to breaker-and-a-half

An application was filed with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in November 2020. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2022. The project is scheduled to be in service in June 2024. 

Badger Hollow Network Upgrade

This project is driven by the proposed 300MW Badger Hollow Solar Farm in Grant and Iowa counties, Wisconsin. It is required to address steady-state generator outlet thermal overloads and generator transient stability issues under a NERC Category P1.2 Planning Event (e.g., a single line outage condition). The cost of the project is estimated to be $15.5 million and includes:

Uprate X-17 Highland -Wyoming Valley – Spring Green 138-kV line to achieve 1008 amps (241 MVA) Normal Rating and 1293 amps (309 MVA) 2-hour Emergency Rating for all seasons.
Expand Highland Substation 138-kV three-position ring bus with a fourth position to add a 100 MVA 138/69-kV transformer. Construct Highland 69-kV segmented straight bus with space reserved for a future bus-tie breaker. Loop the existing Y-138 Eden- Dodgeville 69-kV line in and out of Highland Substation with new double-circuit structures on new right-of-way.

The targeted in-service date of the project is December 2021. ATC received a Certificate of Authority from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in March 2021.

Barneveld and Military Ridge Distribution Interconnection Project

The Barneveld Military Ridge Interconnection Project is a new transmission-to-distribution interconnection needed to reliably serve Alliant Energy and Mount Horeb Utilities electric needs into the future.

The cost of the project is estimated to be $14.1 million and includes:

A new Barneveld 69/12.47-kV substation
A new Military Ridge 69/12.47-kV substation
A new 12.75-mile, 69-kV line from Hooterville to Mount Horeb substations on the PSCW ordered route and vacant tower position of the 345-kV Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line Project to the new substations.

An application was filed with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in April 2021 and is under review.

Bayport–Pioneer Rebuild Project

The rebuild of a 69‑kV transmission line in northeast Wisconsin, along with associated substation work, was approved by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in spring 2020 at a cost of $51.7 million. Approximately 22 miles of line on 1910s‑vintage wood poles will be rebuilt, running between Bayport Substation and Pioneer Substation. The line will serve three distribution substations in Brown County and Oconto County.

The Bayport‑Pioneer Rebuild Project consists of the following:

Rebuild the line between Bayport and Pioneer substations with double‑circuit structures
String both Bayport‑Pioneer lines, combine, and operate as one line at 138‑kV
Convert Suamico and Sobieski substations to 138‑kV operation
De‑energize the Pulliam‑Bayport 69‑kV section of line

The project is scheduled to be in service in August 2022.

As part of ATC’s analysis of the area, it was determined that the area north of the Bayport-Pioneer corridor, the Pioneer-Crivitz 69-kV lines, were due for asset renewal. ATC performed a thorough analysis and determined that these two 69-kV lines can be retired and the load moved to the 138-kV system, saving ratepayers more than $20 million. This project will be completed in late 2022.

Cardinal–Hickory Creek Transmission Line Project

ATC, ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative filed an application in April 2018 with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin for the Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line Project — an approximately 102-mile long, 345‑kV transmission line connecting Dubuque County, Iowa, to Dane County, Wis. The PSCW approved the project in August 2019 and one month later issued a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, selecting the route for the Wisconsin portion of the project. The United States Rural Utilities Service issued a Record of Decision for the project in January 2020 and in May 2020, the Iowa Utilities Board issued a franchise for the Iowa portion of the project. The utilities received federal permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Mississippi River crossing in September 2020.

The Cardinal-Hickory Creek project is one of 17 multi-value projects approved by MISO in 2011. Studies conducted initially and since that time indicate that the project will deliver benefits to local communities and the Midwest region by:

Connecting the electric transmission system in the Upper Midwest and enabling up to 30 gigawatts of cost‑effective, renewable energy to be delivered across the region,
Providing $23 million to $350 million in net economic benefits to Wisconsin customers, and
Improving local and regional electric system reliability.

Construction begins in November 2021 and the project is expected to be in service by the end of 2023.

Granville Substation – Asset Renewal

The Granville Substation Rebuild Project consists of 138-kV and 345-kV asset renewals of early 1970’s vintage equipment and the reconfiguration of the 345-kV bus from a straight bus to a ring bus. The project is designed to: (1) address asset renewal needs by replacing obsolete and/or poorly-performing equipment; (2) improve reliability performance and operational flexibility; (3) conform to industry best practices; and (4) efficiently provide for future transmission system needs.

The cost of the project is estimated to be $29 million and includes:

Asset renewals:
- Control house
- 20 relay panels
- 11 circuit breakers
- Several 345-kV and 138-kV disconnect switches
345-kV bus reconfiguration from straight bus to ring bus
Replacement of two 138-kV high-pressure fluid-filled underground substation circuit exits with overhead, retirement of the pump house and retirement of the East Granville Terminal

An application will be filed with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in early 2022. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023, and the project is scheduled to be in service in late 2024 or early 2025. 

Howards Grove–Erdman Project

The construction of a new 138-kV transmission line in eastern Wisconsin, along with associated substation work, was submitted to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in June 2021 at a cost of $25 million. The new line will address reliability concerns in Sheboygan County and the surrounding area.

The Howards Grove-Erdman 138-kV line project consists of the following:

Construct a new 6.6-mile 138-kV line from the Howards Grove Substation to the Erdman Substation
Expand Howards Grove 138-kV Substation to a 4-position ring bus
Reconfigure the Erdman 138-kV Substation to accommodate the new line

The project is scheduled to be in service in November 2023.

Mackinac–McGulpin 138-kV – Straits Cable Replacement Project

ATC has replaced two 4‑mile, 138‑kV submarine transmission circuits connecting the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to lower Michigan at an estimated cost of $105 million.

The Mackinac–McGulpin 138‑kV submarine cable replacement project, publicly known as the Straits Cable Replacement Project, was submitted for MISO review and was approved in the MTEP18 planning cycle. The project was developed for the following reasons:

Two 138‑kV submarine circuits were damaged by an anchor strike on April 1, 2018
Three working cables were reconfigured to form one 138‑kV circuit
The project reinforces electric reliability in the eastern U.P.

The project is anticipated to be complete and in service by the end of Q4 2021.

Marquette County Reactive Power Project

The Marquette County Reactive Power Project is a project in Zone 2 to install a 50-MVAr STATCOM to provide dynamic reactive power support to the area. It will be installed at National Substation. Due to the lack of dynamic reactive power resources in this area in general, many loads experience high pre-contingency voltages and low post-contingency voltages. This project addresses these issues.

The project includes:

Relocate one 138 kV line position (line 16343) to a different bus position at National substation.
Install one +/- 50 MVA, 138 kV STATCOM (Static Synchronous Compensator) at National substation.

A June 2024 in-service date is anticipated.

Northern Lights Distribution Interconnection Project

The Northern Lights Interconnection Project is a 138‑kV transmission-to-distribution interconnection needed to reliably serve the electric needs of Epic Systems in Verona, Wis.

The cost of the project is estimated to be $21 million and the scope included:

A new, Northern Lights 138 / 24.9‑kV substation
A new cross-country, Pleasant View 138-kV line
A new 1.3-mile double-circuit 138-kV underground line to the new substation
Fiber communication between Verona and the city of Madison

An application was filed with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in October 2018 and was approved in June 2019. The project was placed into service in July 2021.

Paris 345-kV Substation Generation Interconnection Project

This project re-routes the existing Arcadian-Zion 345-kV line into and out of a new substation to be connected to the Paris 138-kV bus by a single 345/138-kV transformer. The project is needed to accommodate increased power flows due to the Darian Solar Energy Center and Paris Solar Battery Park generation developments near the Paris Substation.

The cost of the project is estimated to be $27.4 million and includes:

A new Paris 345/138-kV substation
Looping the 345‑kV line between Arcadian and Zion into the new substation
Adding a transformer to connect the new and existing Paris busses
Upgrading the grounding at Berryville to handle the increased fault current, due to the new generation

The Certificate of Authority application was approved by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in July 2021. Construction is expected to start by December 2021 and the project is scheduled to be in service in December 2022.

Rock County Reliability Project

The project includes the following activities:

Expanding the Kittyhawk Substation by adding a 138-kV substation and two 345/138-kV transformers
Looping the Bass Creek-Townline Road line (X-95) into the Kittyhawk 138-kV bus
Looping the Paddock-Townline Road line (X-39) into the Kittyhawk 138-kV bus
Building a third Kittyhawk-Townline Road 138-kV Line
Uprating the Townline Road – Rock River 138-kV line (X-74)
Rebuilding a portion of the Rock River – Colley Road 138-kV line (X-23)
Adding grounding to area substations

The Rock County project is urgently needed to address increasingly difficult re-dispatch scenarios and avoid increasing the risk of customer outages. It also will support preparations to address Paddock Substation asset renewal needs in the planning horizon. For MISO’s Transmission Expansion Planning process, the project is listed in Appendix B for MTEP21 and will be targeting Appendix A for MTEP22. The project will require Public Service Commission of Wisconsin authorization. The in-service date is anticipated to be December 2024.

Waupaca Battery Storage Project

The Waupaca Area Storage Project was identified in MISO’s 2019 MISO Transmission Expansion Planning (MTEP 19) report as the preferred solution to address an identified reliability need in the Waupaca, Wis. area. MISO in December 2020 approved the project’s inclusion in the regional plan. The $8.1 million project includes:

2.5MW / 5MWh battery at Harrison North Substation (and associated substation work), and
14MVAr of total capacitance at the Arnott and Harrison North substations.

The project will be installed to help address multiple transmission line outage issues and to provide additional operational flexibility. The project is estimated to be in service in late 2022.

Wautoma–Wild Rose–Harrison Asset Renewal Project

This rebuild of a 1950’s vintage 69-kV line in central Wisconsin, along with associated substation work, was approved by ATC management at a cost of $16.25 and met the regulatory exemption criteria of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. This project consisted of rebuilding approximately 4.1 miles of the existing Y-180 69- kV transmission line from Wautoma to Wild Rose and approximately 14.7 miles of the existing Y-19 69-kV transmission line from Wild Rose to Harrison. The two lines serve seven substations in Waupaca and Waushara counties.

The project included:

Installation of 156 steel structures
Installation of 104 vibratory caissons
The replacement of line conductor and shield wire with new fiber optic shield wire
The replacement of some associated substation equipment

The project was completed in June 2021.

West Marinette to Wells St. Project

The need for this project is driven by a new load addition in Marinette, Wis. The proposed project will address reliability issues incurred by this new load and provide operating flexibility to perform maintenance without placing area load at risk.

The project consists of the following:

Rebuild 1.6 miles of existing West Marinette – Wells St. 69-kV line as a double circuit 69-kV line
Build new 4-mile, 69-kV transmission line between West Marinette Substation and Wells St. Substation
Add 1.9 miles of new circuit to the existing structures of J62 between the Roosevelt Substation and the Wells St. Substation
Position new 69-kV bus at the West Marinette Substation
Use vacant 69-kV bus position and terminal facilities at Wells Street Substation
Install 1.0-mile underground circuit from Riser Structure to Wells St. (in spare conduit duct)

The project is scheduled to be in service in January 2024.