After years of planning, work is now underway on a high voltage power line in Dane County that will stretch from Rockdale to Middleton. Keeping the lights on isn’t cheap. The price tag for the American Transmission Company project is about $220 million.
Sarah Justus of ATC says it will be covered by ratepayers throughout the company’s service area, which includes two-thirds of Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She says most bills will show no significant difference, with the increase amounting to just a “few pennies” a month. Justus says the cost sharing is designed to spread out the price across a large area.
Work on the high voltage line started this week. It’s expected to be completed and in service by 2013.