Contact: Alissa Braatz
abraatz@atcllc.com
Peawukee, Wisconsin – American Transmission Co. will begin accepting applications on June 1 for its Community Planting Program, which provides financial support to eligible cities, villages, towns, counties and tribes in ATC’s service area for planting projects on public property.
Now in its fifth year, the program helps communities where ATC transmission facilities exist. Since its inception, ATC has awarded nearly $240,000 to more than 150 eligible municipalities and counties.
To qualify, communities must commit that all current and future planting plans and urban forestry activities near high-voltage electric transmission lines will comply with ATC’s maintenance standards.
Recipients can use the program funding to plant trees and other tall-growing vegetation outside the transmission line rights-of-way. New to the program in 2017 is a pollinator-specific planting component. Funding also will be considered for communities who commit to planting low-growing, compatible vegetation such as those suggested on ATC’s Grow Smart pollinator guide. The pollinator-attracting vegetation can be a seed mix, plants, plugs or a combination thereof.
“Applying for funding through the Community Planting Program gives communities across our service area an opportunity to beautify their public space,” said ATC’s Chief Operating Office, Mark Davis. “It’s important to plant trees and tall-growing vegetation outside the right-of-way. Since we also know that pollinators are in decline due to loss of habitat, this program now offers a great opportunity to restore that habitat by planting low-growing species that attracts pollinators.”
ATC will accept applications through Sept. 30, and award recipients will be selected and notified by the end of the year. ATC will accept one application per community, and the awards range from $100 to $5,000.
The Community Planting Program is part of the Grow Smart initiative, which is directed toward individual landowners and advocates planting low-growing, compatible vegetation in transmission line rights-of-way. Additional information about ATC’s own pollinator planting initiatives, the Community Planting Program application and eligibility criteria are available on ATC’s Grow Smart website at atc-GrowSmart.com.
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About American Transmission Co.: American Transmission Co. is a Wisconsin-based company that owns and operates the electric transmission system in portions of the Upper Midwest. Formed in 2001 as the nation’s first multi-state transmission-only utility, ATC has invested $4.1 billion to improve the adequacy and reliability of its infrastructure. ATC now has $4.4 billion in assets, including more than 9,540 miles of transmission lines and 548 substations. The company is a member of the MISO regional transmission organization, and provides nondiscriminatory service to all customers, supporting effective competition in energy markets without favoring any market participant. For more information, visit our website at www.atcllc.com.
