Electric Transmission America (ETA) has signed two separate memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with Exelon and MidAmerican Energy Co. to develop two 765 kV, extra-high-voltage transmission projects in the Midwest.
ETA says the two projects, which are the first commercial transmission proposals supported by the recently completed SMARTransmission study, include a series of lines that will extend from the Indiana/Ohio border into Iowa. The new infrastructure will strengthen the regional grid and provide Midwest states with access to more renewable electricity, the company says.
ETA and Exelon will jointly develop 420 miles of 765 kV lines that will run from the Indiana/Ohio border west across Indiana into Henry County, Ill. ETA will develop the lines in Indiana, and Commonwealth Edison (an Exelon subsidiary) will build the Illinois portion of the project. The project is estimated to cost approximately $1.6 billion and will be built between 2015 and 2018.
For the second project, ETA will work with MidAmerican Energy to develop another 180 miles of 765 kV lines that would extend from the terminus of the first project in Henry County, Ill., to Louisa County, Iowa, and then to Buchanan County, Iowa. This project, which is expected to be operational by 2019, will cost approximately $650 million, ETA says.
The project partners say they expect to file the plans with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the first quarter of 2011 and will also seek approvals from state utility commissions in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, as well as from PJM Interconnection and the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator.
ETA is a joint venture between subsidiaries of American Electric Power and MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.
SOURCE: Electric Transmission America
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