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Increased electric system reliability is required in the Greater Burlington area. VELCO, Burlington Electric Department (BED) and Green Mountain Power (GMP) studied ways of improving the reliability of the area’s power delivery infrastructure. After lengthy analysis by all three utilities, the East Avenue Loop and its supporting improvements emerged as the best way to accomplish this goal.
The East Avenue Loop and supporting projects consist of:
- Installing a 34.5 kilovolt (kV) sub-transmission line from the McNeil generating plant to the VELCO substation at East Avenue, near Centennial Field;
- Between the “Essex” substation in northern Williston and the East Avenue substation in Burlington: Placing two 115 kV transmission lines on single poles in place of a single line that today is located on double poles. This is to take place within the existing power line right of way.
- Expanding the VELCO substation near Centennial Field and adding an additional transformer;
- Moving BED’s substation facilities from Lake Street in Burlington to the McNeil plant site; and,
- Removing BED’s overhead distribution lines from the waterfront between the Moran Plant and Maple Street.
The advantages of these improvements include:
- Creating the “loop” flow of electricity that’s needed to ensure improved reliability within Burlington;
- Increasing reliability to the Green Mountain Power system in surrounding communities by connecting the existing 34.5 kV sub-transmission system to the East Avenue substation;
- Allowing a more direct connection to Burlington and to the electric transmission grid from the McNeil plant;
- Allowing BED to consolidate the Lake Street substation infrastructure within the McNeil site; and,
- Allowing BED to remove its distribution lines associated with that substation from the Burlington waterfront.
- Setting the stage for the possibility of Green Mountain Power removing its line from the waterfront in the future.