Special to The hays Daily News

Midwest Energy has learned a request for federal smart-grid money to replace electro-mechanical relays at its Knoll substation, located north of Hays, has been approved by the Department of Energy.

This new project will involve the installation of a new control house and new relays at the substation. The new construction represents a significant improvement to the protection systems at the substation.

The pending construction of the Spearville-Knoll-Axtel transmission line and a second substation will make the Knoll upgrade timely.

"Obviously, this represents a lot of work for our people," said Ray Harold, vice president of engineering for Midwest Energy. "However, the opportunity to make this upgrade with as much as 50 percent federal funding is of significant long-term benefit to our customers. In addition to the reliability benefits that we foresee for Midwest Energy customers, we believe that this improvement will also help facilitate the development of renewable energy resources in the area over the next several years."

The grant represents about $712,000 and will require an equal amount from Midwest Energy.