Substation design and construction in an urban environment

Many urban utilities are evaluating and upgrading their transmission and distribution systems to provide adequate and reliable power to meet their growing business and residential area needs. Limited areas for new substations in congested urban areas, the requirement to obtain city permits and community approval, as well as the need to provide uninterrupted service to customers during construction, requires innovative, flexible, and cost efficient substation designs. In this paper we review the design and installation of two new Commonwealth Edison substations near the central business district of Chicago.