Planning and designing a 21st century grid takes experience and expertise in addressing the varying system needs across regions, variable resources and locations, load impacts and efficiencies across the complex transmission grid that exists today. In order to function as a true network across the seams that currently separate different regions, the grid must be planned in such a way that it is both resilient and efficient to meet our energy needs now and in the future.

Effective grid planning is the key to building a transmission grid that serves today's 21st-century energy needs. Local and regional plans developed by ITC are evaluated through an independent process governed by the respective RTO.

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Projects and Initiatives


Transmission Development Lifecycle

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  • Apply established planning criteria for reliable and efficient systems.
  • Identify system issues and needs.
  • Weigh solutions and develop alternatives.
  • Continually study methodology and process refinement.

ANALYTICAL POWER AND EXPERTISE

TECHNOLOGY

ITC leverages a variety of software technologies as part of our approach to grid planning and engineering, including PSSE, PROMOD, Python Tools, TARA, GridView, Velocity Suite and EMTP-RV.
PLANNING KNOWLEDGE

ITC has developed a robust set of planning criteria and interconnection requirements to maintain the reliability of our system. ITC performs annual assessments to determine how our systems respond to a number of events and conditions.

Interregional Vision

  • Interregional transmission infrastructure enables the grid of the future and provides benefits to customers.
  • The benefits of interregional transmission infrastructure are broad and long-lasting, considering the long-lived nature of transmission assets.
  • Current RTO transmission planning processes prevent construction of beneficial interregional projects by only measuring the benefits of transmission in limited ways.
  • Arbitrary regional differences should not be allowed to prevent beneficial interregional projects from moving forward.


Industry Insight

MISO Study Queue Tops 13,000 MW Dominated by Wind and Solar

As the industry looks at Michigan’s long-term energy future, an unprecedented number of wind and solar projects are being proposed by power producers to meet the state’s future energy needs. Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the regional transmission operator that oversees energy delivery in 15 states, is currently reviewing 32 generator interconnection requests in Lower Michigan as part of MISO’s generator interconnection study process.  Additionally, there are 36 projects in Lower Michigan waiting to be studied. In total, there are 34 solar and 27 wind projects.  As these generators advance through the study process, unit owners will be provided decision points to continue with the study process at the end of each of the three study cycles. Successful owners will execute a Generator Interconnection Agreement (GIA) with ITC, which will commence ITC’s work on constructing facilities needed to interconnect the generator. 

In total, these projects represent more than 13,000 Megawatts (MW) of prospective generation; an amount that is greater than 50% of Lower Michigan’s peak load.  “It’s an interesting phenomenon right now. The energy landscape is truly changing,” says ITC Director of Planning Chuck Marshall. “In recent years we have witnessed a buildout of generation in Michigan’s Thumb region, yet a majority of the queue today is siting generation in other rural areas of our state.  It appears the recent retirement of legacy coal fired resources coupled with renewed renewable goals and tax credits are driving more solar and wind projects than we’ve ever seen proposed in the past, while queue reform is driving an unusually high number of projects into the MISO queue.  While the outcome is unknown, ITC remains committed to integrating these diverse energy resources and providing our customers a reliable and secure connection.”

For information on additional projects, visit the MISO Generator Interconnection Queue.