West Central Electric Cooperative, Inc. (WCEC)
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office, Award Number DE-GD0000885.
Community Partnership Team (CPT)
As part of this Project, WCEC will form a CPT made up of stakeholders in the local communities that will be affected by their wildfire mitigation project. The CPT will advise WCEC throughout the project, participating in virtual and in-person meetings and providing feedback to ensure that community interests are incorporated into the project. CPT members will also have the opportunity to raise any concerns about the plan's impact and identify other potential grid-related wildfire threats.
Grid Update Plan
(Coming soon)
Kickoff Meeting Agenda
- Time, date, and location TBD
- CPT members will be selected in the near future, sometime after the kickoff meeting
- See the proposed meeting agenda in the table below
| Meeting Agenda | Description |
|---|---|
| Welcome/Introduction | Information sharing |
| Purpose of Meeting | Briefly describe the meeting objectives, and Community Benefits Plan overview and objectives |
| Overview of the Proposed Project | WARN Project overview. Co-op-specific project overview |
| Impact on the System Resilience | Describe the improvements in the system and the impact of the outage |
| Year 1 tasks outline and time frame | Describe Year 1 tasks including project plans for Years 2 and 3 |
| Feedback | To be solicited at kickoff meeting |
Consortium Member Information
West Central Electric Cooperative (WCEC) provides safe, reliable and affordable energy and services that improve the quality of life for our members and their communities. Founded in 1949, WCEC serves more than 3,700 members in Central South Dakota, in Haakon, Jackson, Jones, Lyman and Stanley Counties. WCEC’s peak demand is 40 MW, with 4,022 miles of energized power lines, and 29 employees.
West Central Electric Cooperative is a member of a consortium of 38 electric co-ops and other rural utilities selected to receive federal funding through the Wildfire Assessment and Resilience for Networks project or WARN. WARN projects will modernize and strengthen our nation’s electric grid, protecting customers’ access to electricity during wildfires and mitigating the risk of wildfires due to our nation’s aging transmission and distribution infrastructure.
Project Description
WCEC has proposed to replace overhead powerlines with underground lines in Haakon County, near Phillip, SD. This project will eliminate wildfire risks inherent for overhead power line conductor and overhead recloser operations. The estimated project cost including ditching, labor and materials is around $2.8 million dollars.
Benefits
Undergrounding powerlines makes the electric system safer, stronger, more reliable, and more affordable. This project will prevent wildfires caused by powerlines or equipment. It also significantly hardens the system to protect it from wildfire caused by natural or human factors in this area.
Communities and Consumers Impacted
The project area is located near Philip, South Dakota. The project would underground 10.5 miles of line to reduce the risk of wildfire.
Per the 2020 United States Census, Phillip’s population is 759. The area includes residential homes as well as biking and hiking trails used by those living in the surrounding area.
Community Benefits Plan
(Coming soon)
Timeline
The project will take approximately 2 years, with construction broken up into four stages to be completed in the months of April through November in consecutive years.
- Design: 3-6 months
- Permitting: Overhead easements will be replaced with underground easements.
- Construction: April – November 2026-2027. Undergrounding a distribution line along the road will require some level of traffic control, and the operation of large excavation equipment along with maneuvering large reels of primary cable. Some disruption to traffic flow is inevitable.
- Operation: Moving overhead electrical systems to underground includes converting overhead services to underground services requiring utility line workers and operations personnel.
Contact for More Information
Additional questions should be directed to:
Jeff Birkeland
CEO
605-669-8100
jeff.birkeland@wce.coop
Project Maps
