Erecting poles on the west side of Darlington, south of Hwy. 81. A crew from American Transmission Co. is setting up poles to connect the new Wisconsin Power and Light Company owned Red Bird Substation to the grid. The substation is seen to the left in this photo and represents a $3.1 million investment.  According to Scott Reigstad of Alliant Energy, the station has been built to provide better reliability for customers and to allow for anticipated future electric growth in the area. Reigstad stated, “Previously, there was just one substation – the Darlington Substation – that powered Darlington. So, if that one substation went out of service for equipment or weather reasons, there was no other back-up until it was repaired. Now, with the Red Bird Substation, the city will be getting power from two substations, both of which can by themselves power the whole city, if needed. This will provide redundancy, improve reliability and reduce outage times.” Reigstad continued, “In late summer we have also scheduled a complete rebuild of the existing Darlington Substation, an expected investment of $2.9 million. This will add to more reliability of power in the area and replace aging equipment.”