Edison Sault Electric Company is pleased to announce that the newly constructed 80 mile long 138 kV transmission line linking the combined Edison Sault Electric Company and Cloverland Electric Cooperative REA transmission systems in the Eastern Upper Peninsula to the Wisconsin Electric transmission system in the Central Upper Peninsula was activated early this morning. The project, known as the Central Upper Peninsula (CUP) Project, starts at the Arnold Substation in Marquette County in the west and ends at Indian Lake Substation near the City of Manistique in the east. The Indian Lake Substation is then linked to the combined Edison Sault/Cloverland systems.

Energization of the final portion of this transmission line completes a $44 million project announced in 1994. The project is a joint construction effort involving Edison Sault Electric Company, Upper Peninsula Power Company, and Wisconsin Electric.

"The Central Upper Peninsula Transmission Project will address the needs of Edison Sault Electric Company in several different ways," said Ernest Maas, Vice President – Engineering & Operations at Edison Sault. "It will improve the reliability of the electric supply for the greater Manistique, Schoolcraft County, area. Also, Edison Sault will gain another source of electric supply to meet electrical demand needs. The new electric supply will also afford the opportunity for lower-cost service. The customers of Edison Sault Electric Company will benefit from an improved electric supply system that will provide both additional capacity and increased reliability. As such, it will contribute to the economic growth and vitality of the Eastern Upper Peninsula."

"This transmission line is critical to the future reliability of the Upper Peninsula," said Rod Miller, Wisconsin Electric’s principal representative for state government relations in Michigan. "Completion of this line ensures that electrical power needs created by growth in the Upper Peninsula will be met."

The project benefited from an agreement between the participating companies and the U.S. Forest Service that included independent monitoring of environmental issues related to construction through the Hiawatha National Forest. According to Robert Walker of the U.S. Forest Service in Rapid River, "We’re happy the line is completed and energized and that its construction was in accordance with the EIS and mitigation measures." Final restoration of the line route will be completed this spring, and is the only remaining work.

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Last modified: August 16, 2002