ITC Midwest Community Engagement

Community Engagement

Find timely updates, announcements and resources that reflect ITC Midwest’s latest community engagement.

ITC Midwest Leaders Lead Business Panels, Participate in Conferences

Late summer, ITC Midwest leaders participated in several key meetings to reinforce the company’s position as an Iowa electric transmission leader. These included:

Director of Customer and Business Solutions Cheri Monahan and Local Government and Community Affairs Area Manager Jamie Toledo hosted a meeting of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance Innovation Council in Cedar Rapids on August 22. They updated the group with the latest information regarding transmission projects in the region and spotlighted ITC Midwest’s new headquarters.
Director of Customer and Business Solutions Cheri Monahan highlighted the company’s economic development strategy while participating in a panel discussion at the Business Breakfast Series in Cedar Rapids on September 9. The event gathered area business and community leaders to discuss issues impacting the local economy and the future of economic growth in the region.
Local Government and Community Affairs Area Managers Scott Arnold and Jamie Toledo represented ITC Midwest at the Iowa League of Cities Annual Conference & Exhibit on September 17–19 at the Community Choice Convention Center in Des Moines. The event brought together more than 400 municipal leaders including city clerks, council members, mayors and city managers from across Iowa. ITC Midwest’s exhibit booth served as a touchpoint to share updates on regional transmission projects and reinforce our commitment to operational excellence.
ITC Midwest’s Customer and Business Solutions team connected with economic development professionals at the Professional Developers of Iowa (PDI) Conference, held September 24-26 in Ankeny. The team enjoyed learning, networking and exploring innovative strategies to help drive growth in communities across the state. By providing reliable energy infrastructure and strengthening the grid, ITC Midwest plays a vital role in supporting economic development throughout the region.

Cheri Monahan at Business Breakfast Series

ITC Engineers Discuss 765 kV Design at Iowa State University’s Electric Power Forum 2025

Supervisor of Special Projects Aaron Graber (line design standards) and Supervisor of Substation Standards Alex Rannow (substation design standards) presented at a 765 kV design workshop as part of Electric Power Forum 2025, the 62^nd Electric Power Research Center (EPRC) conference at Iowa State University in Ames last spring.

As 765 kV is a new grid voltage for the upper Midwest, Aaron and Alex discussed the overall approach that ITC is taking to develop design standards for this new, major grid infrastructure.

Most of the 765 kV infrastructure in the U.S. was built in the 20^th century by very few companies, and the design standards required to properly build, operate and maintain the new 765 kV infrastructure needed to be developed. To meet the need to support the buildout of 765 kV transmission lines, ITC is proactively developing 765 kV standards with a team of talented, motivated collaborative and diverse employees who are excited to meet this once-in-a-career challenge of developing a new ITC voltage class from the ground up.

Since early 2024, ITC employees have collaborated with various consultants, materials and equipment vendors and leading technical organizations to develop standards and best practices including transmission line designs, substation designs, operational procedures and safety practices. In the ITC Midwest service territory, the team has played a significant role in the MISO Tranche 2.1 765 kV project development in Minnesota, supporting a project that will be developed by ITC Midwest, Great River Energy and Xcel Energy.

At Electric Power Forum 2025, Aaron highlighted the industry’s new focus on 765 kV lines, including factors to consider surrounding audible noise and the impact on induced current, which requires more ground clearance. Alex discussed the various components of substations and emphasized the sheer magnitude of the large substation equipment required to support the new 765 kV system.

The sessions were well attended, both in-person and virtually. ITC’s participation in the workshop demonstrates the company’s leadership in integrating new technology into the high-voltage power grid and demonstrates how our company is working in collaboration with other utilities and the industry to develop these new 765 kV systems.

ITC Midwest Team Participates in Iowa Lineman Rodeo

A team representing ITC Midwest competed in the first annual Iowa Lineman Rodeo at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on August 15. Utilities from across the state showcased the skills, talents and safety procedures that their line workers use every day in the event organized by the Iowa Utility Association and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) local unions.

Each team – including ITC Midwest’s dedicated contractor Utility Lines Construction Services (ULCS) – completed four individual events in the friendly competition for bragging rights amongst their peers. Events included a hurt-man rescue where a life-sized dummy was rescued from the top of a pole and an event where each competitor climbed to the top of a pole with an egg in a bucket, placed the egg in their mouth and descended without breaking the egg.

Volunteers from ITC Midwest helped to plan the event, set up equipment, judged the competition and interacted with attendees at a booth and ITC Midwest trucks.

Several Iowa state and federal elected officials – including Governor Kim Reynolds and U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra and Mariannette Miller-Meeks – also stopped by to check out the event and connect with ITC Midwest representatives.

The event was a great opportunity for Iowans to see line workers in action and highlight ITC Midwest’s focus on providing safe and reliable transmission service.

Dusky Terry Discusses Transmission at CBJ Energy Symposium

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.

ITC Midwest Welcomes New Local Government and Community Affairs (LGCA) Team Members

Two new personnel have recently joined the ITC Midwest Local Government and Community Affairs (LGCA) team, including:

Jamie Toledo is the new LGCA Area Manager for the greater Cedar Rapids area and surrounding counties, and she is based at the Cedar Rapids office.

Jamie comes to ITC Midwest from the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, where she served as the Economic Development Relationship Manager for the past eight years. At the Economic Alliance, Jamie’s responsibilities included leading a regional developer team of public, private and economic development professionals from seven counties. Her wide-ranging work has included collaboration with developers, site selectors, commercial real estate brokers, industry leaders and cities on business attraction and expansion efforts.

Prior to joining the Economic Alliance, Jamie had 17 years of experience at Alliant Energy in a variety of roles with progressively increasing responsibility, including serving as manager of areas including supplier diversity, Lean Six Sigma programs, sourcing and supply chain, corporate diversity and inclusion, and fleet administration. Her experience with these many roles at Alliant Energy, coupled with her economic development experience, will serve Jamie well in her new role as an LGCA Area Manager.

Jesse Crank has joined the LGCA team as Permitting Specialist. Jesse will take over permitting responsibilities for our northern Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin service territories, and he is based at the Dubuque warehouse.

Jesse comes to ITC Midwest from Utility Lines Construction Services (ULCS), where for more than seven years he was Regional Forester overseeing vegetation crews. Jesse was responsible for inspecting and assessing vegetation on ITC Midwest transmission line rights-of-way for vegetation compliance. During his time at ULCS, Jesse worked under the parameters of multiple county, state and federal permits. He understands the importance of fostering strong relationships with the government bodies issuing permits, which provided him strong background and tools that ITC Midwest needs to operate successfully.

Prior to joining ULCS, Jesse gained experience as a distribution utility arborist and later a general foreman for Shade Tree Service Company, an ITC Midwest contractor that does vegetation management work. He also gained experience as a lineman apprentice through the Missouri Valley Line Constructors Apprenticeship and Training Program.

Get in touch with ITC Midwest

Do you have a question about ITC Midwest community support or any of our projects? Our team is happy to provide you with answers. See below or download our contact sheet to identify your local representative and view their contact information.

Download the ITC Midwest Contact Sheet