GREEN POWER EXPRESS, WIRES FOR WIND

ITC proposes project to move wind power to Chicago
Scott DiSavino (w/ John Picinich), February 9, 2009 (Reuters)

"ITC Holdings Corp on Monday proposed to build a $10 billion to $12 billion power transmission network to move up to 12,000 megawatts of electricity from wind-abundant areas in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa to the heavily populated Chicago area… ITC said the proposed "Green Power Express" network would facilitate the development of wind power projects by moving that clean generation to areas in need of additional renewable energy…"

Practical project or coal industry boondoggle? (click to enlarge)

"The power grid operators in the eastern part of the United States said in a report Wednesday the region would need to spend about $80 billion for new transmission infrastructure to increase the amount of energy from wind power to about 20 percent over the next 15 years…The Green Power Express will cross parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana and will ultimately include about 3,000 miles of extra high-voltage (765-kilovolt) transmission.

"ITC filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeking approval of a revenue requirement formula and incentives including recovery of development expenses….[and will partner] with several local utilities and wind developers on the project, including NorthWestern Corp, FPL Group Inc's NextEra Energy (formerly FPL Energy) and Iberdrola Renovables SA…"