Project Description:

1. The Midwest Electric Cooperative Corporation will upgrade an existing 69-kV line that was damaged by a wildfire in 2022. Our 69-kV line is the backbone of our system that connects nine distribution substations to the bulk electric grid.  It is nearly 50 years old and has begun showing signs of its age and needs to be replaced to maintain reliability and increase the resiliency of our system. Rebuilding the line will increase its resiliency to wind, ice, and other threats from nature.  The existing line has long spans between poles that means each pole is supporting a long stretch of conductor that is battered by the wind and picks up ice loading in winter storms.  The upgrade will include improved support structures and reconductoring to reduce line sag and resistance to wind and ice loading. These improvements will greatly reduce the likelihood of faults, the possibility of wildfire ignition and outages caused by ice accumulation and wind.

Project location: 

Proposed project would rebuild electric transmission line from the 88-6 Grant substation to the 88-23 Red Willow Creek substation, roughly from Grant to Elsie, Nebraska.