US-based Exelon’s unit Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) will hold three days of open houses in July 2013 to take public inputs regarding the construction of a proposed 345kV power line in Illinois.

The proposed Grand Prairie Gateway Project will involve building a new electric transmission line between ComEd’s existing substations near Byron and Wayne, and connect it to the substations across Ogle, DeKalb, Kane, and DuPage counties.

ComEd’s new power line is expected to serve millions of customers in northern Illinois.

The Grand Prairie Gateway Project is expected to reduce the congestion and costs and flow electricity efficiently across northern Illinois.

PJM Interconnection, the independent regional transmission grid operator and planner for the ComEd service territory, has recommended the transmission project as a solution to address the current problem of system congestion.

Commonwealth Edison Company executive vice president and chief operating officer Terence Donnelly said the company is interested in receiving queries from customers and explain them the benefits of the new project.

"Just like highways that don’t have enough lanes, transmission lines with insufficient capacity become congested over time, creating a traffic jam that blocks the flow of energy and increases the cost of delivering it to customers," Donnelly added.

The open houses will be held on 9, 10, and 11 of July 2013.