150-mile power line to open up clean energy in Wisconsin

July 27, 2010

American Transmission is holding a series of open house meetings this fall to consider possible routes for the 150-mile Badger Coulee Transmission Line Project
American Transmission Co. (ATC) has announced plans for a 150-mile transmission line that would open up access to renewable energy in Western Wisconsin.

The Badger Coulee Transmission Line Project has been developed following two years of study and analysis, proposing a 345-kilovolt power line from the La Cross area to the greater Madison area.

The transmission-only utility is to begin a public outreach program this fall, to seek views on the proposals, including a series of open house events in the area local to the proposed power line.

Waukesha-based ATC is aiming to formally seek approval from the state Public Service Commission in 2013. If the project goes ahead, construction would begin in 2015, for commercial operations to start in 2018.

John Procario, ATC president, chairman and chief executive officer, said: “It’s an exciting new project because it demonstrates multiple benefits. Badger Coulee enhances electric system reliability; it provides direct energy cost savings to electricity users, and it supports the public’s desire for the greater use of renewable energy resources.”

Benefits

ATC provides transmission services in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois, and said the new Badger Coulee Transmission Line would mean offsetting the need for $140 million in lower-voltage upgrades in the western Wisconsin area.

The power line would allow utilities greater capacity to buy and sell power within the Midwest, which could also mean lower electricity bills for consumers, the company said.

The transmission operator is investing $2.2 billion to improve the reliability of its 9,400 miles of transmission lines and 510 substations.

www.atcllc.com

Add your comments

Overland Legalectric
This was announced in a 4/3/09 press release (nocapx2020.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/nocapx-motionreopen2-exhibita-4-3-09.pdf)
The studies also found that further upgrades in Minnesota and the Dakotas (beyond the 230-kilovolt line upgrade) will not provide significant benefit prior to installation of a high-voltage transmission line between the La Crosse, Wis., area and the Madison, Wis., area. Without a line to the east of Minnesota, the transmission system will reach a “tipping point” where reliability is compromised, according to the studies. The studies found that the combination of the new 345-kilovolt double circuit line between Granite Falls and Shakopee and a new Wisconsin line would increase the transmission system transfer capability by 1,600 megawatts for a total increase — with the 2,000 megawatts from the new 345-kilovolt line in Minnesota – of approximately 3,600 megawatts.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“Clean energy?” Where does that idea come from? It's transmission for coal, starting in the Dakotas to displace natural gas with coal. Don't think so? Read MISO's ICF Benefits Report
(nocapx2020.info/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/icf_miso-benefits-analysis_final_02282007.pdf) beginning at the ES p. 14, Conclusions:
The overall outcome of this analysis demonstrates that potential RTO benefits are large and are measured in hundreds of millions of dollars per year. While on a percentage basis the potential improvement appears modest, the magnitude of the production costs involved is so large that on a dollar basis, the efficiency improvements are substantial. RTO operational benefits are largely associated with the improved ability to displace gas generation with coal generation, more efficient use of coal generation, and better use of import potential. These benefits will likely grow over time as:
• Reliance on natural gas generation within the Midwest ISO footprint grows as a result of the ongoing load growth and a general lack of non gas-fired
development over the last 20 years. This may increase the scope for potential savings from centralized dispatch in future years.
• Tightening environmental controls and the resulting greater diversity in coal plant fleet variable operating costs will make optimization of coal plant utilization more important in future years.
• Tightening supply margins throughout the Eastern Interconnect over the next three to five years increase the importance of optimizing interchange with
neighbors such as PJM, SPP, and others.
• Transmission upgrades which could increase the geographic scope of optimization within the Midwest ISO footprint. The lack of an Ancillary Services Market (ASM) for footprint-wide reserve optimization limited the achievable results by as much as 40 percent during the study horizon.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Here's information of the LONG history of plans for this project – CapX 2020 since announcement in 2004 and going all the way back to the WRAO and WIREs report:
http://nocapx2020.info/?p=2336
http://power.efficientcy.com/power/opponents-speaking-out-about-new-proposed-high-voltage-power-line-to-la-crosse-wkbt-4821/ Opponents speaking out about new proposed High Voltage Power line to La Crosse – WKBT – Power
[...] BrighterEnergy.org [...]