American Transmission Company (ATC) on April 22 told Wisconsin regulators that while the rebuild of the Boscobel to Lone Rock (Line Y124) line is substantially complete, a 1.7-mile segment of Y124 remains to be built in coordination with Muscoda Utilities’ expansion of its industrial substation.
The Muscoda project schedule remains uncertain pending Muscoda Utilities obtaining required regulatory approvals, but it is anticipated that the work will be completed in 4Q21, ATC told the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in its quarterly progress report for the period Jan. 1 through March 31.
As T&D World sister publication TransmissionHub reported, the commission in September 2017 told ATC that the company’s request for an extension of time to begin construction on the project is granted.
“Order Condition 17 of the above-stated final decision is revised to require starting date for the subject project by June 1, 2018,” the commission said. “All other conditions of the commission’s September 17, 2016, final decision remain unchanged.”
ATC, in an Aug. 30, 2017, filing made with the commission, requested an extension until June 2018 to begin construction on the project.
As noted in that filing, the commission granted to ATC a certificate of authority, effective Sept. 17, 2016, to rebuild its 69-kV transmission line between the Boscobel and Lone Rock substations. Condition 17 of the order granting the certificate requires ATC to request an extension and receive approval if construction will not begin within one year of the effective date of the order, the company noted.
ATC said that as described in its application and the commission’s order, the company intended to begin construction in June by starting right of way (ROW) clearing activities. The company added in its filing that it intended to begin construction in late 2017, or early 2018 with ROW clearing.
The requested extension would allow additional time for permitting and easement acquisition, and would better align ROW clearing activities with Order Condition 12, which requires the company to consider modifying its schedule to perform vegetation management activities during winter months when vegetation is dormant, to mitigate impacts.
The company added that the requested extension would not impact the approved project cost or change the planned December 2019 in-service date.
The commission, in its September 2016 final decision, granted, subject to conditions, ATC’s application for authority to rebuild about 25 miles of the existing 69-kV transmission line between the existing Boscobel substation in the city of Boscobel, Grant County, and the Lone Rock substation in the town of Buena Vista, Richland County.
Other than rerouting the line in two segments for a total distance of about nine miles, the existing line will be rebuilt within its existing ROW, the commission said in its decision.
The operating voltage of the line will remain at 69 kV, the commission said. ATC proposes to rebuild about 25 miles of the existing 27.6-mile line, the commission said, adding that the company and its predecessor transmission owner have performed maintenance rebuilding on the remaining 2.6 miles of the line during the past 20 to 30 years. On that section of the line, ATC proposes to selectively replace additional facilities following regular maintenance inspections, the commission said.
In its April 22 progress report, ATC said that actual project costs through March 31 totaled about $33m, and that the approved total project cost is about $32.4m.
