Wisconsin residents to get say about electric transmission projects

- American Transmission Co., Milwaukee, the company that moves electricity within Wisconsin, is taking measures to ease public objections to two projects to boost electrical service in northeastern Wisconsin.

“I think people want to know what is planned and how it will affect them,” said David Hovde, local relations representative for the transmission company.

That was the case with Betty and David Schroeder of Clintonville, who attended an informational meeting recently in Bear Creek, one in a series of meetings held by ATC. “We were here to gather information about the project,” they said.

Informational sessions to date have drawn an average of 200 people, Hovde said.

After the informational meetings are completed, the ATC makes a final decision on the corridor for transmission lines and location of two substations. Siting must meet criteria and be approved by the state Department of Natural Resources and the state Public Service Commission.

The projects, each with a cost of about $100 million, are:

- A 345-kilovolt transmission line connecting a yet-to-be-sited electric transmission substation just north of New London. It would intersect the proposed Gardner Park-Central Wisconsin transmission line at a yet-to-be-sited substation in the Belle Plaine area between Clintonville and Shawano with an existing substation southwest of Oconto Falls. - A 345-kilovolt transmission line to carry electricity from new Wisconsin Public Service generating unit near Wausau to the Belle Plaine substation. The line is needed because the existing transmission system is inadequate to carry the additional output of the new plant. ATC was established by the state Legislature as an independent company to move electricity from its source to customers because the transmission system is the most fragile link in the stateÂ’s electric power system, according to a PSC study. The stock in ATC is owned by public and private utility companies relying on transmission of power.

While the Belle Plaine substation site is undetermined, the substation near New London will likely be placed adjacent to existing substations owned by New London Utilities and We Energies, on Spurr Road on the north edge of the city.

“Each substation is on 10 acres of land and there is room for another substation. It makes sense for all of them to be in the same area,” said Steve Thompson, New London Utilities manager.

“The commission supports that site. It will be good for New London because it will be a three-way feed and build our service dependability,” Thompson said.

The link also will benefit the Fox Cities because it strengthens the grid of electric power in northeastern Wisconsin, said Jeff Feldt, general manager of Kaukauna Utilities.

“Building the transmission system helps every electric power user in the state,” he said.

Where the transmission lines are located matters to people who attended the Bear Creek meeting.

“I am hoping that it does not affect my land,” said Al Tank, who farms in the Town of Lebanon north of New London.

“I would object to them following the gas line because it would come behind my house and go diagonally across my farm, and I think it would come too near the airport,” said Paul Kirchner, who lives east of Clintonville.

Robert Most, a farmer who lives on the north edge of New London, had a suggested corridor.

“I think they should take the abandoned railroad right of way from Clintonville to New London. It won’t affect farmland and they could put a substation on the curve down here,” Most said.