The City Council’s Public Works Committee has approved a compromise with Commonwealth Edison that will allow the electric company to install a new transformer at 2020 W. Touhy Ave.
This transformer will replace the one Edison was ordered to remove six months ago from a residential street, according to Public Works Director Joe Saccomanno.
Park Ridge ordered the removal of the three-bank transformer on Cherry Street after learning it was installed without a proper permit. The city does not want such transformers in residential areas where they can detract from the character of the neighborhood. Touhy Avenue is a major thoroughfare, so the transformer will have little impact, Saccomanno said.
The new location is also proving to be better for Edison than the original site, so the company has dropped its claim that the city must pay the roughly $42,000 Edison said it cost to relocate that transformer, Saccomanno said.
The transformer will allow Edison to increase its capacity in an area of the city by tripling the available power. The Touhy location will also allow Edison to upgrade a larger portion of the city than was possible from Cherry Street.
