Transmission News

Appalachian Power plans to rebuild the existing South Bluefield-Wythe 69-kV transmission line and add additional improvements to strengthen the transmission infrastructure in Southwest Virginia. The approximately 21-mile transmission line will be upgraded from the current 69 kV to 138 kV standards to provide enhanced system reliability, operational flexibility and allow for future economic development in the area. Appalachian proposes to begin work in 2016 and complete it in 2018.

ITC Great Plains, in conjunction with Sunflower Electric Power and Mid-Kansas Electric, placed the V-Plan high-voltage electric transmission line and the Clark County, Ironwood and Spearville substations into service in western Kansas.

Dominion Resources agreed to purchase Carolina Gas Transmission (CGT) from SCANA Corporation for approximately $492.9 million. The company plans to close on the acquisition in January 2015. The transaction would include no assumption of debt and, upon closing, would be immediately accretive to Dominion's operating earnings per share. Subject to board approvals by Dominion and Dominion Midstream Partners, Dominion expects to contribute CGT into Dominion Midstream for a combination of debt and units by mid-year 2015.

Minnesota Power's Great Northern Transmission Line received another approval. FERC approved a facilities construction agreement required to build this 500-kV, 220-mile line that will run from the Canadian-U.S. border northwest of Roseau, Minn. to an expanded Blackberry electric substation east of Grand Rapids, Minn. The Great Northern Line, under development by Minnesota Power and the Manitoba Hydro subsidiary, has an anticipated in-service date of June 1, 2020.

ABB designed, manufactured, installed and commissioned a 1,200-kV circuit breaker the highest AC voltage level in the world. Once the 1200-kV ultrahigh-voltage switchgear is fully operational, it will have a switching capacity of 10,400 MW - a switch capable of turning ON' or OFF' the electricity generated by 10 large power plants or the combined average annual electrical load of Switzerland and Denmark, within milliseconds.

American Transmission Co. (ATC) completed its work in the Zoo Interchange to relocate and erect new electric transmission infrastructure to accommodate the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's interchange expansion plans. ATC began the transmission line portion of the project in June 2013 to relocate seven overhead 138-kV transmission lines and erect 59 single pole structures to replace 58 lattice towers.

S&C Electric Company established an agreement with Florida Power & Light (FPL) for S&C’s TripSaver II cutout-mounted reclosers to be installed throughout the utility’s system to reduce momentary outages for its 4.7 million customers. The TripSaver II is an electronically controlled single-phase recloser that can self-clear transient faults on lateral lines, avoiding the need to “blink” or disturb the main feeder and other lateral lines.

ABB commissioned a power solution that will control the flow of power and enhance grid stability in the State of Michigan. ABB’s low-loss and eco-efficient HVDC Light technology controls the power flow between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. The HVDC Light station was commissioned on schedule and handed over to the customer, American Transmission Co. (ATC). ABB designed, supplied and installed the 200-MW back-to-back HVDC Light station in upper Michigan.

The TUCO-to-Woodward 345-kV transmission line between Xcel Energy's TUCO Substation was energized when a connection was made with an Oklahoma line segment built by Oklahoma Gas and Electric (OG&E). Xcel Energy built the line from TUCO to just east of the Texas-Oklahoma boundary in Beckham County, Okla. The OG&E segment connects from the Beckham County site to Woodward, Okla.

Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) completed upgrades on 16 major circuits serving more than 30,000 customers in the counties of Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex and Warren. The upgrades included installing more resilient polymer fuses, adding larger 10-foot cross-arms to increase wire clearance, and installing fault indicators that help identify problem areas on a circuit which helps speed the restoration process if an outage occurs.