MUSCATINE, Iowa–Anyone traveling north of Muscatine recently may have felt a little surprised and intrigued to see new power lines going up. Over the last several months, Muscatine Power and Water has begun work on Transmission Line 106, their largest transmission line project in 40 years. The work on it may seem to have started recently, but the projects’ roots go much farther back, and this new line will play a critical role in keeping Muscatine’s power supply reliable and adaptable for years to come.

Director of Utility Service Delivery Ryan Streck shared that plans for Line 106 date all the way to 2017, when a transmission study conducted in 2016 indicated that Muscatine Power and Water would benefit from an additional transmission line. Because Muscatine Power and Water serves many industrial clients as well as residential ones, it seemed likely that the need for electricity would increase over time, especially with the decommissioning of some of Muscatine Power and Water’s coal-fired generation resources in the coming years. Additionally, two of Muscatine’s largest transmission lines run in the same direction and near to each other. In the event of severe weather, the study found both could get damaged at once, presenting difficulties.

Since 2017, Muscatine Power and Water has worked hard behind the scenes to get ready to build Line 106, obtaining the proper permits from the Iowa Utilities Board; planning the line’s route so that it would avoid other power lines, housing developments, and critical farm sites; and getting easements from landowners when necessary. Streck noted that all of the landowners agreed to voluntary easements, making the process much smoother and more amicable for everyone involved.

So far, Muscatine Power and Water has poured the foundations for the new line and will soon put up the poles needed to support it, as well as the line’s substation. Thanks to clever design, the new transmission line will need no guy wires, making it safer for farm vehicles operating nearby. Streck estimates that work on Line 106 will wrap up by the end of May 2022.

Once completed, Line 106 will tie Muscatine to Station 56 near West Lake Park in Davenport. Streck looks forward to the many benefits it will bring once it goes online. “With this third line running north, it truly gives you geographic diversity and resilience to a natural disaster,” he explained. “If we have a spurt of economic development, we could respond to that growth,” he added.

Streck also appreciates the flexibility the new line will give Muscatine Power and Water, allowing them to take other lines out of service more easily when they require maintenance work. As Muscatine Power and Water plans to add more solar to their portfolio, it will also make it easier for Muscatine Power and Water to purchase energy from other sources on days when they cannot generate much solar due to cloudy weather or to sell it to other companies when they have more than they can use. “It really gives us that path moving forward to reach to the market,” stated Streck.