ICC Approves Key Illinois Transmission Line
NAW Staff, Wednesday 22 October 2014 – 23:04:45
Commonwealth Edison’s (ComEd) Grand Prairie Gateway Project, a transmission line that is expected to remove wind energy bottlenecks in Illinois, has received approval by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC).
According to the company, the line will extend for 60 miles across Ogle, Dekalb, Kane and DuPage counties. The new line will create immediate customer savings by reducing grid congestion, increasing customers’ access to lower-cost generation, including wind power. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of next year, and the line is expected to be in service in 2017.
“As the competitive electricity market expands, transmission lines become congested over time, just like highways do as the communities around them grow,” says Terence Donnelly, ComEd executive vice president and chief operating officer. “This congestion impedes the flow of low-cost energy, increasing the cost of delivering that energy to our customers, and we’re obligated to solve that problem. We are pleased that the Commission has recognized the need for this important new line, which will offset those increases just as soon as it’s energized.”