Major projects update
Dodge County Distribution Interconnection Project
The Dodge County Distribution Interconnection Project is needed to serve a new load addition in the Beaver Dam, Wis., area.
The project includes:
- Expanding the existing North Randolph Substation in the town of Randolph.
- Building a new substation near the city of Beaver Dam to be named the Manhattan Substation.
- Constructing a new double circuit 138-kV transmission line from the newly expanded North Randolph Substation to the new Manhattan Substation.
- Rebuilding the existing 138-kV transmission line from the North Randolph Substation to the Manhattan Substation.
A Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) application will be submitted to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in November 2024. If approved, the in-service date is anticipated to be in 2027.
Grant County Distribution Interconnection Project
The Grant County Distribution Interconnection Project is needed to serve a new load addition in the Kieler, Wis., area. Currently, this area is supported from a radial 69-kV ATC line that has no direct connection to the rest of the ATC’s transmission network.
The project includes:
- New Kieler Substation – relocate and rebuild the existing Kieler Substation to a new location in the town of Paris.
- Building an approximate 0.5-mile, 69-kV transmission line between the new Kieler Substation and the new customer-owned substation.
- Building an approximate 3.9-mile, 69-kV transmission line from the existing Kieler Tap – Kieler 69-kV line to connect the relocated new Kieler Substation.
- Constructing an approximate 5.9-mile, double circuit, 69-kV transmission line to loop the radial 69-kV segments into the Hillman – Miners 69-kV line.
A Certificate of Authority (CA) application will be submitted to the PSCW in November 2024. If approved, the in-service date is anticipated to be in 2027.
Mill Road – Granville Project
The Mill Road – Granville Project is needed to continue to comply with NERC TPL reliability standards, support the interconnection of new generation in Wisconsin, provide adequate and reliable service to large new loads in southeast Wisconsin, and improve transfer capability and operation flexibility.
The project includes:
- Mill Road Substation – Construct a new substation with a 345-kV ring bus, a 138-kV ring bus, a 500 MVA 345/138-kV transformer, and a series reactor on the Sussex – Mill Road 138-kV line, interconnecting the nearby 345-kV and 138-kV transmission lines into the new substation.
- Granville Substation – Replace an existing transformer with a new 500 MVA 345/138-kV transformer and add one 345-kV line terminal.
- Butler Substation – Reconfigure 138-kV line terminals and install a series reactor.
- Tamarack Substation – Reconfigure 138-kV bus.
- Rebuild the Granville – Arcadian 345-kV and Granville – Tamarack – Sussex 138-kV double circuit line to a double circuit 345-kV line between the Granville and Mill Road substations.
- Construct a new Mill Road – Tamarack – Butler 138-kV line.
- Uprate the Arcadian – Mill Road 345-kV lines.
- Reconductor the Mill Road – Germantown 138-kV line.
A CPCN application was submitted to the PSCW in October 2024. If approved, the project is anticipated to be in service in 2027.
North Central Wisconsin Reliability Project
The North Central Wisconsin Reliability Project will improve the reliability in the north central Wisconsin region, specifically the 115-kV networked system. The proposed project will provide an additional source at the southern end of the 115-kV system, significantly improving area reliability. This will also provide significant operational flexibility and provide positive economic benefits.
The project includes:
- Providing a fourth 115-kV source into the Rhinelander loop between the Hilltop and Pine substations.
- Expanding the bus at the Pine Substation to accommodate an additional line terminal and upgrading the bus to match the rating of the new line.
- Performing lifecycle asset renewal on relays at the Hilltop, Maine and Pine substations.
ATC plans to submit CPCN application to the PSCW in early 2025. The project is scheduled to be in service in 2028.
Northern Adams County Area Network Improvement Project
The Northern Adams Area Network Improvement Project will improve the reliability of the area and support the interconnection of a new, proposed distribution substation to the electric grid.
The project includes:
- Building approximately 4.2 miles of new, 69-kV transmission line from the ACEC Cottonville Substation to the new ACEC Colburn Substation.
- Building approximately 5.1 miles of new 69-kV transmission line from the ACEC Badger West Substation to line Y-302.
- Expanding the ACEC Badger West Substation to create a new 138-kV to 69-kV connection point on the system.
A CA application was submitted to the PSCW in November 2024. If approved, the in-service date is anticipated to be in 2027.
Plymouth Reliability Project
The Plymouth Reliability Project is a new, approximately 8-mile 138-kV transmission line that will connect to a new distribution substation near the town of Mitchell, Wis. The project is needed to ensure distribution electric reliability and address existing and projected load addition in the community and surrounding area.
The project includes:
- Plymouth 5 Substation – New T-D substation near the Town of Mitchell
- Building a new double-circuit 138-kV transmission line approximately 8.0 miles in length from the Saukville-Elkhart Lake 138-kV line to loop in and out of the new Plymouth 5 Substation.
A CPCN application was submitted to the PSCW in January 2024. If approved, the project is anticipated to be in service in early 2026.
Racine County Distribution Interconnection Projects
The Racine County Distribution Interconnection Projects consists of several new 138-kV transmission-to- distribution interconnection substations within the Electronics and Information Technology Manufacturing (EITM) zone in the village of Mount Pleasant to serve a large new load addition in southeast Wisconsin.
These projects include:
- Nimbus Substation – New 138-kV breaker-and-a-half interconnection substation with 9 – 138/24.9-kV distribution transformers.
- Stratus Substation – New 138-kV breaker-and-a-half interconnection substation with 10 – 138/24.9-kV distribution transformers.
- Jupiter Substation – New 345/138-kV breaker-and-a-half interconnection substation with 4 – 500 MVA 345/138-kV transformers, +/- 350 Mvar STATCOM, 138-kV capacitor banks, and multiple 138/24.9-kV distribution transformers.
- Cosmos Substation – New 345/138-kV breaker-and-a-half interconnection substation with 4 – 500 MVA 345/138-kV transformers, 138-kV capacitor banks, and multiple 138/24.9-kV distribution transformers.
- Mount Pleasant Substation – Expand 345-kV and 138-kV breaker-and-a-half buses to interconnect new transmission lines, additional 500 MVA 345/138-kV transformer, +/- 350 Mvar STATCOM, and capacitor banks.
- Construct a new 138-kV double circuit line between the Mount Pleasant, Nimbus, and Stratus substations.
These projects are scheduled to be placed in-service starting in 2025 through 2027 and beyond. These projects have either been approved through MISO’s Expedited Project Reviews in 2024 or will be submitted in MISO’s MTEP 25 regional plan.
Racine County Western Feed Project
The Racine County Western Feed Project is a network upgrade project needed to serve the above-mentioned Racine County Distribution Interconnection Projects.
The project includes:
- Construct two new 345-kV double circuit lines from the existing Arcadian – Pleasant Prairie (PLPL81)/Arcadian – Paris (W-30) 345-kV double circuit line to loop in and out of the Jupiter and Cosmos substations.
- Construct a new 345-kV line between the Jupiter, Mount Pleasant, and Cosmos substations.
A CPCN application was submitted to the PSCW in July 2024. If approved, the project is anticipated to be in service in 2027.
Valders Substation Project
The new 138/69-kV Valders Substation relieves economic congestion in Northern Manitowoc, provides an additional source for Manitowoc load, enhancing operational flexibility to better manage the outage of generation or transmission for maintenance, prepares the system to better address potential reliability issues related to future changes in Manitowoc area generation, and helps to accommodate potential future local load or generation changes.
The new 138/69-kV substation in the Manitowoc area will connect a 138-kV transmission line that runs between the Forest Junction and Howards Grove substations and a 69-kV transmission line that runs between the New Holstein and Custer substations.
ATC plans to submit a CA application to the PSCW in 2025. If approved, the project is anticipated to be in service in 2028.
Waupaca Area 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 approved the project in December 2020. The project will be installed to help address multiple transmission line outage issues and to provide additional operational flexibility.
The project includes:
- 2.5MW / 5MWh battery at Harrison North Substation (and associated substation work),
- 14MVAr of total capacitance at the Arnott and Harrison North substations, and
- 9 MVAR STATCOM capability at Harrison North substation.
A CA application was submitted to the PSCW in June 2024 and approved in January of 2024. The project is estimated to be in service in 2025.