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As aging traditional plants in the Upper Midwest are retired, and new low-cost renewable energy is added, new transmission lines are needed to meet our customers’ growing electric needs.
Xcel Energy is proposing to add between 80 and 100 miles of new 345-kV transmission line that will connect to new and existing substations. As proposed, the new line will likely start at an existing substation near the City of Blair in Trempealeau County and connect with another transmission line either near the City of Owen in Clark County or the Village of Sheldon in Rusk County.
Dubbed the Western Wisconsin Transmission Connection (WWTC), the new infrastructure will enable us to deliver continued reliable, affordable, and increasingly carbon-free electricity to our customers throughout Wisconsin. The project will also help maintain system resilience during severe weather.
The WWTC will help Xcel Energy manage our system’s changing electric needs now and into the future.
The Mid-Continent Independent System Operator (MISO) worked with Xcel Energy and other energy companies throughout the Upper Midwest to identify new transmission projects that can be built to manage the new energy system, including several in Minnesota and Wisconsin. These projects will connect the new low-cost renewable energy with customers, ensuring that as older plants retire, customers will continue to receive the electric service they depend on when they need it.
As much as possible, Xcel Energy expects to propose using existing transmission line corridors to lessen the impact of the new infrastructure on landowners and communities. In some cases, we will replace existing ‘single circuit’ transmission lines with new ‘double-circuit’ poles that include the existing and new transmission lines.
Xcel Energy is in the process of filing a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in mid-2024. Click here to learn more.
