Today (Nov 4), ATC published its new 10-year assessment, which identifies needs for electric grid improvements for the next decade throughout the company's service area. ATC sees an increased need for electric grid infrastructure investment, based mainly on the evolving energy landscape, integration of renewable generation and large new load requests.

The plan outlines needed investments of:

• $1.8 billion for projects to meet system planning criteria (network projects)
• $1.4 billion in regional multi-benefit projects (including the Midcontinent Independent System Operator Long-Range Transmission Planning projects)
• $4.0 billion to maintain reliable infrastructure (asset renewal)
• $1.5 billion for projects that support economic growth in our service area (distribution-to-transmission interconnection requests)
• Between $0.2 billion - $2.2 billion in other capital expenditures (generation-to-transmission interconnection requests)

Evolving energy landscape, renewable generation and load requests drive the plan

Several key factors are driving the increase in projected infrastructure investments in ATC's service area - the evolving energy landscape, implementation of renewable generation and large new load requests.

"ATC works closely with its local electric distribution utility customers to provide reliable, cost-effective solutions that support their needs - and the needs of their energy consumers," said Tom Dagenais, director of system planning. "Economics, public policy and concerns over climate change are advancing the transition of generation to lower-cost, cleaner energy sources, which means we must continually develop appropriate and cost-effective system upgrades and deploy grid enhancing technologies that align with the evolving energy landscape."

To further stabilize electric reliability across the Upper Midwest, new electric grid infrastructure is needed to help move all forms of power from where it's generated to where it's needed. MISO's Board of Directors in July 2022 approved Tranche 1 of the Long-Range Transmission Plan projects and ATC anticipates MISO's Board of Directors will approve Tranche 2 by the end of 2024. These regional multi-benefit projects will address the transformative changes of the generation fleet in the coming years.  

Distribution-to-transmission interconnection requests from ATC's customers remain strong, as does the addition of distributed energy resources. "We are also seeing large new requests from major technology companies that will add unprecedented demand to our system and will transform the energy landscape," added Dagenais. "We anticipate meeting various regulatory requirements for all these projects, along with the solutions that support them."  

Finally, ATC continues to work with MISO on the significant increase in generation-to-transmission requests now in the queue. As of the end of September, there are 130 proposed projects in the generation queue within our service area, totaling over 18.5 gigawatts - a 10% increase over 2023. ATC expects this trend to continue.

Maintaining a safe and reliable electric grid

As a regional electric grid operator and the first multistate transmission-only utility in the nation, ATC is committed to maintaining a safe and reliable electric system in the Upper Midwest for the five million electric consumers that rely on it every day. ATC manages the safety and reliability of the electric grid by maintaining and upgrading existing assets and aging infrastructure throughout its service area.  

"When studying new projects, we evaluate the lifecycle of existing assets and aging infrastructure," said Jim Vespalec, director of asset management. "We monitor and test substation equipment at regular intervals, assessing the risk of performance concerns and addressing those with the potential to cause outages or raise repair costs."

ATC also continues to invest in communications infrastructure to efficiently monitor the functionality of its system and to meet the data needs of the future.  

The full plan is available for viewing at ATC10YearPlan.com.

ATC is a Wisconsin-based company that moves energy along the regional electric grid in parts of Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois, serving more than 5 million electric consumers. We are experts at what we do: planning, maintaining, operating and protecting the grid. As the electric industry moves toward renewable generation sources, we are transforming our system to continue delivering energy reliably and safely. We proudly support STEM education programs that empower youth with the skills needed to succeed in tomorrow's energy workforce. For more information, visit www.atcllc.com