A NEW ENTERGY substation is awaiting one final approval before going on the books as the first substation to grace the city of Madison’s aesthetically groomed backyard.

At the city’s last board of aldermen meeting, Entergy was given approval to build their substation on a two acre plot of land just behind Liberty Park.

“There are eight soccer fields at the park. The substation will take up three quarters of one soccer field,” said Entergy Manager of Communications Checky Herrington. “The area where the substation is going is becoming more commercial and we feel the area is the best for the substation.”

Entergy’s substation is not a building, it should be considered more like an open air warehouse for energy.

Entergy officials say the substation will increase the efficiency of the distribution of energy to the city’s exponentially multiplying commercial and residential buildings.

“With all the growth in Madison it is important that we have the substation so we can bring power to the city in the best way possible,” Herrington said. “Our priority is getting power to the people the best we can and this substation will allow us to do that.”

When a structure of this type is desired by both the company proposing it and the city where it will eventually call home, there must be an approval of what is called joint stipulation. A joint stipulation is a legally binding agreement between both the city and company that states their mutual interest in the project. However, before the company can begin construction in the city the joint stipulation must be approved by the Mississippi Public Service Commission.

“There will be no hearing on the joint stipulation, as all parties are in agreement on the plan,” said Entergy Communication Specialist Ann Becker. “We hope to receive a ruling from the commission in the next few weeks.”

THE SUBSTATION IS NOT going to be a small, quickly constructed or a cheap undertaking. Property Entergy bought for the structure cost $602,000 and that is the smallest financial infraction Entergy will incur.

According to Becker, the substation will be 65 feet tall, its construction will cost $9.8 million and an extra $38.3 million will be spent on building the transmission line. Completion of the project is estimated to be some time during 2010.

The substation will serve a five square-mile area and take up 1.5 acres of the entire two acres Entergy purchased from the city of Madison.

Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler is pleased with the city’s and Entergy’s decision regarding placement and prospects of the new facility.

“It will be good for the city,” Butler said. “The location of the substation will be in a commercial area and that will protect the integrity of our zoning.”

Even though the substation is essentially lots of electrified metal, it’s a substation in Madison so it will have walls and landscaping to mask its raw industrial appearance.

“The walls around the substation will be similar in appearance to the wall at nearby Colony Crossing,” Becker said.

According to Herrington, the substation has been specifically designed to fit in with Madison’s high quality of aesthetic grooming.