In a nod to downtown Ann Arbor's expected 24/7 population growth and the lifestyle businesses popping up to serve those new residents,
DTE Energy plans to break ground on a new power substation this autumn.
The $10 million, 13.2-kV Buckler substation will be built on DTE-owned property, on the rear portion of the Ann Arbor Service Center plot at 982 Broadway, says DTE Regional Manager Paul Ganz. The necessary overhead and underground lines are already in place. Representatives from the utility will go before the city planning commission next month.
Some may point to the existing Argo substation across the street, Ganz notes, but "Argo is an older substation and it's been built out and modernized as much as possible and the new substation will be built in a fashion that we can accommodate the new load going in downtown and at the same time...we're going to re-balance the load."
About 16 development projects either new or in-progress since 2008 include the Google AdWords headquarters and multi-unit housing at 601 Forest, the Village Green complex, and both Zaragon Place Lofts properties. And those employees and residents may want to plug in their Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF cars.
"Electric vehicles are an additional portion of the load that we expect to be in Ann Arbor because it is known for its environmentally conscious population," says Scott Simons, a spokesperson for DTE Energy.
"We expect that there'll be more electric vehicles in Ann Arbor than in other places in our service area."
Ganz says the new substation should be online by spring 2013.
Sources: Paul Ganz, DTE regional manager; Scott Simons, DTE Energy spokespersonWriter: Tanya Muzumdar
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