We Energies’ pipeline project is done on a massive scale
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
Take a drive through the rural areas skirting the southern rim of Burlington – including Spring Prairie, Lyons, Brighton and Paris – and you’d be hard-pressed to miss the massive construction project winding its way through the landscape.
Blue-green steel pipes, 24 inches in diameter and 40 feet long, are being lowered into 4-foot-deep trenches and buried as part of We Energies’ Lakeshore Lateral natural gas pipeline construction.
The project – proposed by the state’s largest utility in 2018 and approved by the Public Service Commission in early 2020 – covers nearly 50 miles from the southeast corner of Whitewater to the eastern edge of the Town of Paris.
With an estimated price tag of $174 million, the 46-mile pipeline is needed to answer future demand for natural gas in this area of the state, according to officials with We Energies.
“The lateral will provide additional natural gas capacity to southeast Wisconsin to support economic growth in the region,” We Energies spokesman Brendan Conway said Wednesday. “As we saw in Texas in February, reliable heat is incredibly important. Current and future residents and businesses in the service area will benefit from this improved reliability and service.”
Although the project was conceived and planned before the initial announcement of the Foxconn project, officials with We Energies said the Foxconn proposal did add to the urgency when the pipeline project became public in 2018. Now that Foxconn has scaled back plans for its site in Mount Pleasant utility officials have reiterated that the need is regional and not necessarily tied to one company.
“(We Energies) believes that the construction of this project is the best alternative and most advantageous means of meeting its obligation as a public utility. The project will not result in facilities in excess of present and probable future requirements,” company officials wrote in their route application filed with the PSC in January 2020.
The pipeline route
When complete, the pipeline will extend from the existing Bluff Creek Gate Station on the eastern edge of the Town of Whitewater to the proposed Lakeshore Capacity Improvement Project Regulator Station near Interstate 94 on the Yorkville-Paris town line, according to documents submitted with the application.
The pipeline travels through the towns of Whitewater, LaGrange, Sugar Creek, Lafayette, Spring Prairie and Lyons, and the City of Elkhorn in Walworth County; the City of Burlington and towns of Burlington, Dover and Yorkville in Racine County; and the towns of Brighton and Paris in Kenosha County.
Conway said the route represents as much as a $40 million savings over alternative routes that were considered. The cost of the project is ultimately paid for by the utility’s customers.
Crews overseen by general contractor Minnesota Limited, of Big Lake, Minnesota, began the project last year and have proceeded by excavating the easement areas, assembling and welding the pipes, then backfilling the trenches and restoring the landscape. The work is about 35% complete and should be finished by the end of the year, according to Conway.
The majority of the route is through agricultural land, which is restored to farming once the pipeline is installed, according the plan.
“We work closely with the landowners to minimize the impacts,” We Energies spokesperson Amy Jahns said in a prior interview.
Each private landowner among the estimated 100 affected by the pipeline is compensated by We Energies for the easement to their properties, according to plan documents.
In the run-up to the PSC approval, We Energies hosted a series of open houses in the summer of 2018 to allow residents to learn more about the project.
For its part, the PSC sought written input about the project from the public and held two public hearings at Veterans Terrace in Burlington on Feb. 26, 2020, before approving the project.
Conway asked that residents take caution in the construction zones.
“We ask that the residents be alert while traveling through the construction area,” he said. “Please respect the traffic control signs and flaggers along the roads and trails. Our top priority is safety, including the safety of the public and construction crews, while minimizing the disturbance to the community.”
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