ITC Holdings has launched the Green Power Express, a network of transmission lines that would facilitate the movement of 12,000MW of power from the wind-abundant areas in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa to Midwest load centers, such as Chicago, southeastern Wisconsin, Minneapolis and other states that demand clean, renewable energy.
According to the company, the Green Power Express is a step in ITC’s efforts to modernize the overburdened, aging electricity grid. This project will be one of company’s efforts to create a high-voltage support that can meet the US’s renewable energy goals and eliminate inefficiencies in the grid.
The transmission project will traverse portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana and will ultimately include approximately 3,000 miles of extra high-voltage 765kV transmission, said the company.
The entire project is currently estimated to cost approximately $10 billion to $12 billion. Portions of the Green Power Express fall within the service territory of ITC Midwest, an ITC subsidiary.
ITC Holdings invests in the electricity transmission grid to improve electric reliability, improve access to markets, and lower the overall cost of delivered energy. Through its subsidiaries, ITCTransmission, Michigan Electric Transmission Company (METC) and ITC Midwest, ITC operates regulated transmission systems in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and portions of Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois and Missouri.
