New Lines, Substations Improve Wheatland Electric System Reliability

POWER provides engineering design services

Hailey, ID (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Wheatland Electric Cooperative is delivering more reliable power to South Kansas homes and businesses, thanks to new transmission lines and substations just placed into service. POWER Engineers Incorporated (POWER) provided Wheatland Electric the engineering design and other services to seamlessly coordinate work on two transmission and four substation projects needed to significantly improve system reliability.

Wheatland Electric’s improvements were made in conjunction with major transmission upgrades by Mid-Kansas Electric Company, LLC in the same area, and include new 138 kV lines in the areas of Caldwell and Conway Springs. The improvements also include construction of new substations at Caldwell, Conway Springs and Rago. The work upgraded a fourth substation at Bluff City to accommodate the new 138 kV line.

“The new 138 kV lines provide a much more reliable source than the old lines and better support present and future power demands,” said Brian Tomlinson, POWER’s project manager for the work at Wheatland Electric. “The new lines, along with Mid-Kansas transmission additions, give local distribution substations two paths to deliver electricity, providing Wheatland Electric more flexibility for restoring power during an outage, such as during a storm, thereby improving reliability.”

The higher voltage lines also allow industrial power users to consider building in areas that previously could not support their needs for electricity.

Mid-Kansas announced in late June that it had placed its $65 million Harper-Milan Transmission Project in service in Kingman, Harper and Sumner counties. The 138 kV line includes 58.9 miles of new line from Harper to Milan, 12.6 miles of new line from Harper to Rago, 5.8 miles of rebuilt line between Milan and the Viola tie, and the new connection to Westar’s Viola Substation. The project also includes the new Bluff Creek Substation and modifications to the Harper and Milan substations.

POWER’s services included routing, siting and permitting support and engineering for the transmission lines and substations. POWER also provided material procurement, construction contracting and construction management of the project. As part of POWER’s team, Land Services Inc. performed the right-of-way acquisition for the project.

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