Entities unite for transmission partnership

The energy industry firm GridLiance has joined forces with the City of Winfield, Kan., as a means of improving the city’s transmission facilities.

The agreement calls for GridLiance to acquire a 65 percent ownership stake in 29-miles of Winfield’s 69-kV transmission line and terminal equipment within five substations while also investing in a needed reliability upgrade.

“We are delighted to be partnering with the City of Winfield and Kansas Power Pool (KPP) on this acquisition and the transmission upgrades, which support GridLiance’s mission to invest in transmission infrastructure and improve grid reliability,” Calvin Crowder, president and CEO of GridLiance, said. “This acquisition emphasizes our capabilities in working with municipal electric utilities to develop solutions that can address their unique financial, reliability and transmission operational needs.”

Winfield Mayor Ron Hutto said the city is excited to work with GridLiance.

“While we will continue to own a 35 percent stake in these transmission facilities, GridLiance will provide a partner to share in the significant financial responsibility for future upgrades and operations and maintenance while providing Winfield with the financial flexibility to invest in transmission upgrades at our option,”
Hutto said. “This ensures we will be able to improve the reliability of our electric transmission infrastructure while allowing us to focus our financial resources on our generation and distribution assets. It is important for our citizens to know that it will continue to be Winfield employees, in Winfield trucks, working on the transmission system that service Winfield’s customers.”