Coming Soon to Major City Centers: The Green Power Express

February 10th, 2009 by Ariel Schwartz

One of the biggest problems with wind power is that it’s often trapped in low-density rural areas. ITC Holdings wants to bring wind energy to major US city centers with the “Green Power Express”, a network of transmission lines that will move 12,000 MW of power from the Midwest to cities like Chicago and Minneapolis.

The $10 billion network will add 3,000 miles of transmission lines in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.

ITC hasn’t provided an exact completion date for the project, but the company is in the midst of filing an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requesting a revenue requirement formula and incentives for construction of the Green Power Express.

According to the company’s website, “Construction will start once all of the related studies have been completed, regulatory approvals have been received and the detailed routing of the project has been completed and approved as appropriate. Due to the size and scope of this project along with the various state and federal approvals that will be required, ITC is aggressively targeting to have the Green Power Express in service by 2020.”

Here’s hoping other organizations take on similar projects in the near future. The sooner transmission lines are in place, the sooner we can move towards a truly smart grid.

Photo Credit: Green Power Express









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