Groundbreaking Planned For New Electric Transmission Line

A new company begins work this week on a
high-capacity transmission line it says will create an energy
“superhighway” between eastern and western Kansas and bolster the
state’s wind energy potential.
Prairie Wind Transmission plans to break ground Wednesday in
Colwich on a 108-mile line that will extend from Wichita to
Medicine Lodge and south to the Oklahoma border. The high-capacity
line carries about 345 kilovolts.
Prairie Wind is a joint venture of Westar Energy and Electric
Transmission America.
The line is expected to be finished and energized in December
2014. The company says it will provide the first strong
transmission path between western and eastern Kansas.
Prairie Wind president Kelly Harrison says wind energy projects
in Kansas have been stymied by limited transmission capacity.