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APS outlines two-mile transmission upgrade through Williams; work to pause for holidays
Summary
APS representatives told the council about a two-mile infrastructure upgrade from McPherson/South 6th Street through downtown to the Kaibab Substation, with construction set to begin this fall, limited road closures and short customer outages, and planned completion by May 2027.
APS representatives Janet Dean and Brad Elkin briefed the Williams City Council on a planned two-mile transmission-line upgrade that will replace aging wood poles with new steel structures, upgrade facilities at the Williams and Kaibab substations, and improve system reliability for the Grand Canyon feed and communities along the route.
The project schedule calls for establishing a laydown yard behind the Kaibab Substation in August, construction beginning in September and October, a pause during the holiday season to minimize disruption to tourism and community events, and resumption in the first and second quarters of 2027 with planned completion by the end of May 2027. Road closures will be required while crews set new poles; APS estimated closures would last no more than four to six hours at a time depending on pole location. When individual customer outages are necessary for service transfers, they're expected to last less than one hour.
APS said outreach will be coordinated closely with city staff because Williams residents are customers of the city's electric system rather than APS directly. Planned outreach includes a project webpage, hotline, mailers and street-level engagement; APS also said it is working with the city to identify opportunities to upgrade city-owned facilities in coordination with the project to reduce redundant disruption.
Why it matters: the upgrade aims to improve reliability for the primary feed to the Grand Canyon and adjacent communities; schedule and outage estimates matter to tourism and local businesses. The presentation was given by Janet Dean and Brad Elkin of APS during the presentations portion of the meeting.
