MidAmerican Energy Announces Completion of Two Power Line Projects

By Loren G. Flaugh

    MidAmerican Energy Company (MEC) reported in its Dec. 14, 2016 news release that construction is complete on a new high-voltage transmission line routed through O’Brien, Clay, Palo Alto, Kossuth, Humboldt and Webster County.  
    MEC said, “The main reason for the new infrastructure is to build a smarter and more reliable energy grid.”
    MEC said the 345,000 volt transmission line, formally known as Multi-Value Project 3, spans approximately 120 miles from MEC’s new O’Brien County substation (pictured above) and ends at an existing MEC 345,000 volt substation near Fort Dodge.  
Additionally, MEC built two new substations, modified an existing substation and rebuilt 161,000 volt transmission lines within an existing right-of-way.  MEC said power line construction crews replaced existing two- and three-pole wooden H-frame structures with single-pole steel structures, which means fewer transmission poles per mile, less need for maintenance and more land available for farming.
“By updating the energy grid, we can better serve our customers,” said Steve Ambrose, project manager, high-voltage transmission for MEC.  “Over the years the population and energy needs have grown and so have our needs for reliability.  Bigger houses, more technology and more appliances have led to increases in energy use.  By building new transmission lines, we can meet these demands and provide more reliable service.  A smarter energy grid will also carry and deliver more wind energy through Iowa and, ultimately, to our customers.”
In addition to expanding the power grid, Ambrose said the project created economic benefits for local communities, including the use of locally made goods and services to build the project, landowner easement payments, and a rise in annual property tax payments to counties.  
MEC indicated that although the project is substantially complete, residents in the area will still see crews working to remove materials, clean up and restore land affected by construction.   
MEC is a member utility of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) that oversees the power grid in several upper Midwest states.  MISO approved MVP-3 and 16 other high voltage projects at its Dec. 2011 Board of Directors meeting.  The 17 MVP projects have an estimated cost of $5.6 billion over a 10-year period.  In October, MEC announced that it had completed its MVP-4 project through Black Hawk, Butler and Franklin Counties.  
O’Brien County officials were first made aware of the MVP-3 project in late 2012 when the Board of Supervisors was invited to a landowners’ informational meeting at Hartley on Dec. 6, 2012.  As the Iowa Code mandates, the meeting was hosted by the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) and MEC.  About 150 eastern O’Brien County and western Clay County landowners attended this meeting.
MEC had transmission engineers present to answer questions.  MEC said the purpose of the new O’Brien County substation was for switching power flows.  MEC land agents were present to begin negotiating with landowners for the purchase of easement right-of-way.  The IUB and MEC explained why new power lines are required to be aligned along half-section lines, lines of property division and existing right-of-way.  
A majority of the steel poles are located on 6-foot diameter cement foundations placed next to fence lines that take about 35 square feet of farmland per pole out of production.  Made from self-weathering steel plate, the poles are fabricated at the Sabre Industries facility in Sioux City.  With a 1,000 foot span between poles, this means only 5 poles per mile are now in place.

(This photo shows a typical 6-foot diameter power pole foundation along the new power line right-of-way.)

While theMVP-3 project began to develop, the O’Brien County supervisors had discussions in late 2013 about the new MEC O’Brien County switching substation located in Section 21, Lincoln Township.  Landowners in the immediate area of the substation voiced loud opposition to the location of the facility near Sanborn.  
The IUB held its initial public hearing on the 120-mile MVP-3 project in Algona on June 24, 2014.   The 3-member IUB Board subsequently approved the project.
At a June 24, 2014 supervisors meeting, representatives from EC Source, MECs power line and substation construction contractor, came to explain the scope of their construction work on the new switching substation and the estimated ten miles of new power line to be built east into Clay County.  Again, area landowners were even more adamantly opposed to the substation location.
Coincidentally, Invenergy started developing their 250 megawatt (MW) O’Brien Wind Energy Project in Center, Lincoln and Franklin Townships in north central O’Brien County.  This 50,000 acre area along Highway 18 near Sanborn, where 104 Siemens wind turbines were proposed to be located, is just north of MECs 500 MW Highland Wind Energy Center.  
This meant the MVP-3 switching substation could soon have another function.  The connection of 250 MW of wind energy onto the high-voltage grid was planned to be MECs new switching substation.  The new wind farm under consideration was now placed on a faster developmental track in February of 2015 due to construction crews already working on the substation and power line.  
The IUB’s written approval order for MEC’s Wind X expansion program set a cost cap of $1.61 million per MW for an anticipated total wind farm cost that could approach $402,500,000.  On August 4, 2015, the supervisors issued a construction permit to Invenergy.  MEC announced at this public hearing that it would assume ownership of the new wind farm.  
Invenergy and MEC said construction of the 250 MW wind farm would begin in the spring of 2016 with completion expected by the end of the year.  From the 104 new Siemens wind turbines, power would run underground to MECs new O’Brien County substation.
MECs O’Brien Wind Energy Project is now essentially complete with some cleanup work still remaining.  Mortenson Construction Company built the project and has been moving out equipment and manpower over the past few weeks.  All 104 wind turbines are now in operation and supplying power onto the high-voltage grid.  
MEC is now harvesting 750 MW of wind energy from the 250 MW O’Brien Wind Energy Project and the 500 MW Highland Wind Energy Center and directing into central Iowa via the completed MVP-3 project.  
Lawrence Lewis, Supervisor, Wind Generation for MEC was questioned about the number of wind turbine technicians he has that perform day to day maintenance of the 318 wind turbines MEC now has operational in O’Brien County.  Lewis reported he currently has 27 to 28 wind turbine technicians that maintain MEC’s wind turbine infrastructure.  Lewis said his workforce has now peaked and employment levels are not expected to increase.