The Illinois Commerce Commission approved ComEd’s Grand Prairie Gateway Project, a new transmission line that will run across DeKalb, Ogle, Kane and DuPage counties.
Construction is set to begin after April 2015 for the line to be in service by June 2017. The line will require about 400 steel power poles from ComEd’s existing substation just east of the Kane County line to the substation in Byron.
ComEd officials say the new line will meet the increased demand for power and lower costs for customers. They said congestion on the lines impedes customers’ access to the company’s lowest-cost energy plants, such as wind energy.
The line will save residents $250 million in the first 15 years of operation.
