ATC expands 10-year plan to $3.4 billion

From a blog post by Tom Content on JSOnline:

American Transmission Co. on Thursday unveiled a 10-year transmission plan that calls for higher spending than the same report envisioned a year ago.

Driving the $3.4 billion electric transmission system assessment are a series of new projects that aim to help take advantage of lower cost power across the Midwest as well as help import renewable energy into Wisconsin, the power-line utility said in a statement.

“There is an increasing need for an expanded regional transmission system because of an emerging wholesale marketplace and federal and state policy changes,” said Flora Flygt, ATC director of strategic projects.

Projects included in the 10-year plan include a proposed 150-mile, 345,000-volt power line linking Madison and La Crosse, as well as upgraded transmission system facilities to accommodate increased power that’s proposed to be generated by the Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Manitowoc County.

In addition, a six-mile, 345,000-volt line will be proposed to alleviate transmission congestion in Kenosha County, ATC said.