Winter 2016
 
What's new?
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin is reviewing our application for the Kelly-Bunker Hill-Blackbrook project in central Wisconsin. We are proposing to rebuild, replace and remove a number of 115,000-volt transmission system elements in Marathon, Lincoln and Langlade counties due to aging conditions and to improve reliability. Specifically, we will be removing and replacing a substation in Lincoln County, removing a substation in Langlade County, and rebuilding and upgrading about 27 miles of transmission lines. Additional work at substations in Merrill, Weston, Mosinee and Antigo will be necessary to support the new equipment. The project is estimated to cost $30 million. Construction is scheduled to start in 2017 to meet an in-service date in late 2019.

Our Quad County Electric Reliability Project was completed and placed into service in January, three weeks ahead of schedule and five percent under budget. This crossed Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee and Dodge counties. Many of the transmission structures along this 58-mile, 138-kV line were either lattice or H-frame structures from the 1940s and were replaced with single galvanized steel poles.

Did you know? 
We rebuilt a portion of an electric transmission line located on a dam in Prairie du Sac, Wis., late last year. It was a challenge to remove a transmission line on dam infrastructure and conduct work in an environmentally sensitive area. The project team timed construction to ensure minimal impacts to the eagles that fish the open water near the dam and perch in trees along the shoreline in winter. The use of a heavy-lift helicopter greatly reduced environmental impacts and shortened the construction schedule by weeks, which was critical for avoiding the eagle roosting season. Crews also used a light-duty helicopter to install pull ropes and bird flight diverters. Bird fight diverters help birds see thin wires and adjust their flight path to avoid contact with them.


ATC in the community
Throughout the year, and especially during the holidays, American Transmission Co. employees enjoy giving back to the community. To help nourish families in need during the holiday season, Cottage Grove, Madison and Pewaukee, Wis., employees donated more than 50 pounds of food and $1,000 for Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin and Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin.

For the 10th year in a row, the De Pere office provided Christmas gifts to a local family "adopted" through the Salvation Army. In Madison, employees chose gift ideas for needed items hung on a giving tree to purchase supplies for the Dane County Humane Society. ATC's Kingsford, Mich., office purchased gift cards for the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center to help local veterans who are homeless or suffer from severe mental health issues.

ATC recently awarded $60,000 to 39 communities in our service area to plant trees and other vegetation through the Community Planting Program, which is part of ATC's Grow Smart� initiative. Trees and other vegetation purchased by communities through the Community Planting Program reinforce the Grow Smart initiative by supporting the planting of tall-growing trees and other vegetation outside of transmission line rights-of-way.

To qualify, community recipients committed to complying with ATC's maintenance standards for all current and future planting plans and urban forestry activities near high-voltage electric transmission lines. Since 2013, ATC has awarded nearly $190,000 to more than 130 communities for planting projects. Click here to view the list of 2015 recipients.

ATC hosted local actor and TV celebrity John McGivern last summer, providing him an up-close look at the Pewaukee office operations center. He and his Milwaukee Public Television crew from Around the Corner with John McGivern also made a field visit to our recently completed Quad County Electric Reliability Project along the Lake Country Trail in Waukesha County. The segment featuring Pewaukee and ATC will air on Milwaukee Public Television on March 3 at 7 p.m. Don't forget to tune in, or check out the episode online.

 
It's spring career fair season, and that means our recruiters and employees are busy promoting our job openings and internships at career fairs across the country. We currently have more than 20 full-time job openings in a variety of fields and approximately 25 summer internship and co-op positions. If you know a student or job seeker interested in a career at ATC, tell him or her to visit us at one of these events to learn about our company and career opportunities:

Safety corner
Walk like a penguin!

We all know proper footwear and good snow removal habits help us to avoid slips and falls when walking on wintry sidewalks and parking lots.

But walking like a penguin is a good idea, too. When we walk normally, the body's center of gravity is split mid-stride. This forces each leg to support the body at an angle that is not perpendicular to the walking surface.

When walking in slippery conditions, keep your center of gravity over the front leg. If that sounds too complicated, just think "walk like a penguin."
Customer connections
Because of changing national reliability standards, our local distribution company customers now need to access ATC substation drawings. We recently conducted a pilot test of an engineering project collaboration software to give LDC maintenance groups read-only access to PDFs of our drawings from their computers. Users are able to view and print the drawings as needed.

We anticipate our customers will see significant time savings by having self-service access to the drawings. In the test, a single user saved two hours of time, and from a safety perspective, eliminated the need to drive to a substation.
PowerForward with a guest speaker  

You count on reliable, affordable electricity at home, school and work. But most people don't realize it's not as simple as turning on a switch. Would you like to learn more about PowerForward? Contact Kaylin Schueler at to arrange a speaker for your group.   

 

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