By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Midwest Energy is replacing an outdated substation in northwest Ellis County as part of its ongoing maintenance program.
The substation will be located at about 400th and Severin Road in the Fairport area on land owned by Robert and Coleen Dickinson.
A public hearing for a conditional-use permit for the substation is set for March 23.
Mike Morley, Midwest Energy director of corporate communications, said the substation will replace a substation that has been operation since about the 1950s or '60s.
"It's definitely reached the end of its service life," he said.
The substation will carry a load for oil wells throughout that area.
The substation will be located in a rural area and have little to no impact on neighbors.
Midwest Energy has about 150 substations in its service area. In any given year, the company might replace four to 10 of these stations, Morley said.
The Fairport substation will be a little under a $1 million investment for Midwest Energy. The company is also completing a $4 million-plus project on Cedar Street in Hays at the 11th Street service center.
Cover photo courtesy of Pixabay, via A&B Electrical & Communications Ltd.