Dusky Terry Discusses Transmission at CBJ Energy Symposium
September 1, 2025 | Midwest
ITC Midwest President Dusky Terry provided an overview of ITC Midwest and the need for continued electric transmission buildout during the Corridor Business Journal Energy Symposium, held in Cedar Rapids. The inaugural event also included leaders from Alliant Energy, MidAmerican Energy and NextEra Energy, who focused on various aspects of the energy sector.
Dusky emphasized that Iowa’s electric grid is reliable and resilient, but noted changing demands are driving the need for investment. Some of the key points Dusky made during his presentation included:
- ITC Midwest took over a system that was not meeting reliability expectations, requiring an infusion of investment to rebuild the system. The company’s investments have led to a 79% reduction in transmission outages since 2007.
- Although the expenditures were necessary to improve reliability, ITC Midwest is mindful of the rate impact to customers.
- To facilitate the transition to renewable energy, ITC Midwest built nearly 300 miles of new 345 kV projects as part of the regionally cost-shared MISO MVP portfolio introduced in 2011.
- Today, wind energy accounts for 58% of the generating capacity interconnected to the ITC Midwest system. Over the past 17 years, ITC Midwest has connected 45 new generators representing nearly 5,000 MW of renewable energy to the grid.
- Iowa is projected to have the first significant electricity demand growth in decades, which requires additional investment in the transmission grid.
- ITC Midwest is currently developing the next round of major MISO Long-Range Transmission Plan (LRTP) projects to improve system reliability and resilience, increase system capacity and enable lower-cost energy resources to power economic development in Iowa.
- The LRTP portfolio is critical to support the new data centers planned for the Cedar Rapids area, and general growth in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City corridor.
Dusky closed by noting that the electric grid is one of the largest, most dynamic and most complex systems in the world, and it is critically important for our daily lives. The ITC Midwest team remains focused on operating a safe, reliable and secure grid for the benefit of electricity consumers.
