Meetings set on pipeline

East Troy open house session will be July 11

By Ed Nadolski

Editor in Chief

We Energies plans to host a series of three open house meetings in early July to provide area property owners with information regarding its proposal to build a 49-mile natural gas pipeline through Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties.

The utility filed an application with the state Public Service Commission May 18 to build the pipeline along one of two proposed routes that extend from just east of Whitewater in Walworth County to Mount Pleasant near the Racine-Kenosha County border.

We Energies spokeswoman Amy Jahns said the project, which is designed to meet growing demand for natural gas in the area, was in the works prior to the announcement of the massive Foxconn development in Mount Pleasant. However, she acknowledged that project – which includes expansion of I-94 – accelerated the timetable for the pipeline, dubbed the Lakeshore Lateral project.

According to a landowner list provided by the utility to the PSC, the pipeline project involves more than 1,100 parcels of land between the two proposed routes.

Landowners – who have been notified of the proposals by the utility, according to Jahns – and other area residents will have a chance to learn more about the pending project at the open house meetings.

“Stop by to talk with project team members about proposed routes, the permitting process and estimated timelines,” a letter sent to landowners and provided to the Standard Press by We Energies reads.

The open house schedule is:

  • July 10 from 2 to 7 p.m. at Veterans Terrace, 589 Milwaukee Ave., Burlington;
  • July 11 from 2 to 7 p.m. at Roma’s Ristorante, N8416 Highway ES, East Troy; and
  • July 12 from 2 to 7 p.m. at Michael’s on the Lake, 3101 Eagle Road, Kansasville.

Properties affected

The pipeline itself will be trenched and buried 4 feet deep along the chosen route, Jahns said. The relative impact on the individual parcels upon which the easement is sought will depend on vegetation and topography.

“We’re doing a lot of testing on the routes to see what’s best,” she said during an interview in May. “We work closely with the landowners to minimize the impacts.”

Which route is ultimately chosen will depend on several factors, according to Jahns, including site surveys, environmental impacts, customer impacts and landowner impacts.

If the application for the project is approved, work is slated to begin in spring of 2020 and be completed in summer of 2021, according to Jahns. She said the utility is hopeful the project will receive approval from the PSC by fall of 2019.

The estimated cost is $175 million to $183 million, depending on the route, Jahns said. Those costs will be paid by customers of the utility, she said, but will result more reliable service for a growing area.

Proposed routes

As proposed, the pipeline stretches 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 proposed southern route extends 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.

The proposed northern route traverses properties in the towns of Whitewater, LaGrange, Troy, East Troy and Spring Prairie, and the Village of East Troy in Walworth County; the Village of Rochester and towns of Burlington, Dover and Yorkville in Racine County; and the Town of Paris in Kenosha County.

 

 

 

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