Oct. / Nov. / Dec. 2009 - Nebraska Public Power District

10
ENERGY INSIGHT • OCTOBER / NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2009
New high-voltage power line energized
Following about three-and-a-half
years of planning, public meetings,
material procurement and construction,
the Electric Reliability Project for
East-Central Nebraska reached one of
the last major milestones.
NPPD’s new, 80-mile, 345,000-volt transmission
line between Columbus and Lincoln was energized at
8:13 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 11 during a videoconference
with Transmission System Control Supervisor
Ron Gunderson at the System Control Center in
Doniphan. Upon the request of Board Chairman
Dennis Rasmussen that the line be brought
into service, Gunderson coordinated the steps of
energizing the line with assistance from System
Operator Dan Evans and Lincoln Electric System.
The line was built to ensure the continued reliable
delivery of electric energy in east-central Nebraska –
in light of projected increases in the need for energy
– and to strengthen vulnerable locations in the electric
grid that, during some peak conditions, operated
at near capacity. These factors, along with record
demand for electric energy in the summers of 2005
and 2006, and an NPPD transmission study completed
in May 2006, indicated the need for additional
transmission infrastructure in the east-central part of
the state.
“The project has gone
well,” said Senior Project
Manager Craig Holthe.
“The line was built safely,
and approximately 98
percent of the easements
needed for the project were
obtained voluntarily. NPPD
also received excellent
Craig Holthe support throughout
the project from wholesale
customers in the area.”
Final price tag of the project will be in the $152
million range, Holthe indicated, with it likely being
slightly less once all the costs are tallied. “This
project was a team effort, and there are many to thank
for its successful completion,” Holthe said. “The
leadership of the NPPD Board and management and
the outstanding service provided us and, ultimately,
our customers by the project’s engineering consultant
POWER Engineers, Inc. contributed greatly to the
project coming in under budget and ahead of its
original schedule.”
After the line is energized, all that remains to
complete is a small amount of construction cleanup
and property restoration. Then right-of-way agents
will follow up with damage compensation to property
owners. For more information about the ETR
Project, go to nppd.com and click on Grid Essential –
Transmission Line Projects, then click on ETR.