The Wisconsin regulatory commission approved a proposal from Wisconsin Electric for completion of two transmission line upgrading projects. The combined cost of the projects, scheduled for completion in June 1999, is $33.5 million, Dow Jones reports.

The two projects are called the Northern Interface Project and the Southern Interface Project. The Northern Interface Projects will allow an additional 80 MW of existing capacity to be fed from the Upper Peninsula into Wisconsin, by converting an exiting 115 km transmission line between Iron Mountain, Michigan and Oconto Falls, Wisconsin from 138 kV to 354 kV. The project includes construction of a 345 kV substation as well as other modifications.

The first phase of the Southern Interface Project involves construction of two new substations at the Oak Creek power plant and rewiring 6 km of transmission line to increase the transfer capacity from the south by 730 MW. The projects will improve transmission capabilities throughout eastern Wisconsin during periods of peak demand.