April 7th, 2020, The BPU broke ground on their new 115kV substation along Mohawk Road, between Centennial and Maxwell. This project is part of the BPU’s long-range plan to meet McPherson’s anticipated need for more electrical distribution capacity due in part to expected industrial and population growth.
McPherson has experienced a 37% rise in industrial job growth over the past decade earning McPherson a spot in several “top 10 thriving community lists” in reputable publications including Forbes, USA Today, and Site Selection Magazine. To ensure we stay ahead of the growth curve, McPherson BPU’s leadership approved the expansion project in early 2019.
A substation is a local distribution point or hub for electricity that helps supply and control the voltage of our electricity. This new substation will primarily serve industrial and residential customers in the northeast quadrant of the city. In addition to supporting McPherson’s anticipated growth, the new substation will also increase our reliability as it will provide an additional source of electricity which will allow us to reroute power more quickly in the event of an unforeseen outage. The ability to supply power from multiple substations can drastically reduce the amount of time customers are without power.
The BPU has partnered with Black and Veatch, based in Overland Park Kansas, for engineering support and services and Hutton Construction for foundation and below-grade construction. However, most of the work will be performed by BPU’s skilled electric and maintenance crews. The new Mohawk Substation is expected to be energized in Q4 2021. This is one of the two new substation expansion projects taking place this year. Read about the new JM Add-On HERE.