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Bolander Contracting is in Taylors Falls installing the new Xcel powerline. Water levels in the area of the St. Croix River, (see photo) were high where this crew was staged, but the slough had not yet topped County Road 16.

The powerline crosses atop the hydroelectric dam and continues into Wisconsin, underground through the St. Croix Falls Lower Business District.

This scene is on County Road 16, looking west. The powerline corridor is visible through the trees up the hill in Taylors Falls.

The powerline project boosts capacity for the entire Xcel corridor. Xcel went from 69 kV to 115 kV out of Lindstrom. Part of the project called for upgrades to an existing substation in Lindstrom. Xcel installed taller larger poles through Lindstrom, Center City and the Shafer area. Xcel and local officials were not able to develop an undergrounding plan, but the distribution lines (from transmission service into the customer structure) in Lindstrom are going to be located underground.

A new substation constructed on the west edge of Taylors Falls allows the system to transition to 161 kV. In Taylors Falls the line is being buried a short distance in the urban area.

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