Power company proposes huge Midwest power line

Power lines
Electrical power lines.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

(AP) - A Michigan company wants to build a high-voltage power line to bring green power to Minnesota and other states from windier areas to the west.

ITC Holdings Corp. of Novi, Mich., says its 765,000-volt line would run 3,000 miles through seven states. It would come into Wisconsin from Minnesota and Iowa between La Crosse and Prairie du Chien.

Map of power lines
This map shows the routes for the proposed Green Power Express power lines, to move wind-generated electricity to markets with high demand. The darker blue colors indicate more wind generation capacity.
Image courtesy of ITC Holdings

The company calls the project the Green Power Express. The network of power lines would move wind-generated electricity from the wind-abundant areas in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa to Midwest load centers, such as Chicago, southeastern Wisconsin, Minneapolis and other states that demand clean, renewable energy.

ITC says the project addresses what it calls the lack of electric transmission infrastructure needed to integrate renewable wind energy.

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ITC unveiled the plan Monday, and estimated it will cost $10 billion to $12 billion to build.

Also on Monday, the company filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requesting approval of a revenue requirement formula and incentives for the construction of the Green Power Express, the first of many regulatory steps it will need to take to gain approval of the project.

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Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)