More Energy for Victoria

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New distribution lines for Xcel Energy were installed within the City of Victoria during September and October, some overhead and some underground.

Xcel picks up the cost for overhead additions.  The City of Victoria picks up the incremental cost for the lines that are buried.

New taller poles were installed by Xcel for the addition of new distribution lines.  These areas (along County Road 11) were already served with overhead power, so the taller poles allow for Xcel to double deck the wires.

The old poles will be removed once any live utilities (phone, lights, cable, etc.) have been transferred to the new poles.

From the Xcel substation in Laketown Township (along Victoria Drive), the new underground feeders were buried alongside County Road 11 north to 86th Street ...

 … along the north side of 86th Street from County Road 11 east to Bavaria road, and then along the west side of Bavaria Road from 86th Street north to Hwy 5 and Rolling Acres Road.

The truck is loaded with three separate reels of underground feeder line.  Each reel holds about 700 to 750 feet of line.

When the crew empties one reel of feeder, they are able to stop, dig a splice pit for connecting the two sections of feeder, and then continue on with the next reel of feeder.

This shows a crew potholing for existing utilities.  When a new line is installed underground, the contractor will dig a small hole in areas where the proposed line crosses an existing line to ensure there are no conflicts.

The photo shows the location of a splice pit.  There are limitations on how far a single line can be bored, so the splice pit allows for the contractor to connect (splice) sections of feeder line together.  Thank you, Amanda Groh of Focus Engineering, for providing much of this information.

Beginning in January 2017, a $3/month franchise fee will be added to each energy and electric bill in Victoria to help pay for the undergrounding.  The City of Victoria sold $1.75 million in bonds to pay for the project at this time.

The cost for burying new power lines underground in Victoria has now been estimated at $1.29 million.  The cost includes approximately 27,000 feet of new three-phase underground cable, installation by backhoe, plow, and boring of new cable, and all associated material such as splices, terminations, and other equipment needed for the installation of the cable.