From an article by Jessica Larsen in The Tomah Journal:
A Pewaukee-based company applied to rebuild and upgrade an existing 17-mile electric transmission line that connects the Monroe County substation near Sparta and one near Tomah.
American Transmission Company filed the application with the Public Service Commission on July 29 for the $36 million project. By January 2011, ATC will receive the commission’s decision. If the company gets the go-ahead, construction would begin in summer 2012 and finish in summer 2013.
ATC would also build a new Timberwolf Substation 1/2 mile south of Interstate 90 along Hwy. 131 as part of the project to improve electric system reliability.
ATC’s project plan involves replacing the structures and wires of the existing 69-kilovolt transmission line, which runs mostly along Hwy. 16, and then adding a 161-kilovolt circuit to the new steel structures.
The existing system is about 40 years old, the company reports, and is susceptible to overloads and severe low voltages. The project would increase the reliability of the electrical system. ATC also said that the project would show economic savings by increasing the system’s ability to access lower-cost generation and reducing energy loss.