6.6. ERMUSR 01-11-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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C.4PX 2020 INTERIM REPORT DECEMBER 2004 RECENT TRENDS According to the May 2002 National Transmission Grid Study by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), investment in new transmission facilities declined steadily nationwide for the previous 25 years while growth in demand and additions of new generation have continued. Further, the DOE study states that this disparity between the demand for electricity and the capacity to transport it shows no sign of abating. According to the DOE study, "Construction ofhigh-voltage transmission facilities is expected to increase by only 6 percent (in line miles) during the next 10 years, in contrast to the expected 20 percent increase in electricity demand and generating capacity." Minnesota and the surrounding region are not exceptions to this trend. Since 1980, demand for electricity in Minnesota has grown steadily at a rate of 2.64 percent annually. While the current grid has accommodated this growth and generally is adequate to meet today's needs, this increase in volume has used most of the system's spare capacity. Utilities have made modest system improvements and investments to meet basic load serving and reliability requirements and optimize the transmission capacity, but they have not been inclined to undertake major transmission construction projects. CURRENT UTILITY PLANNING PROCESS Today, regional transmission planning is coordinated by the Mid-Continent Area Power Pool (MAPP), a voluntary association of electric utilities and other electric industry participants, and the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator Inc. (MISO), a regional transmission organization with functional control over all high-voltage transmission facilities. While MAPP and MISO provide overarching regional processes for transmission planning, plans still begin with the individual electric utilities that own and/or operate transmission facilities. Each utility employs transmission planners whose principal responsibility is to ensure the safety and reliability of the transmission system for the benefit of all customers. The planners prepare detailed studies, first assessing present and projected electricity demand and then identifying areas on the transmission system that are increasingly inadequate to serve current and future customers. The planning horizon is generally 10 years. Individual utilities submit their plans to MAPP sub-regional planning groups (SPGs), made up of transmission planners from MAPP member utilities and other stakeholders, including state regulatory agencies and environmental advocacy groups. The SPG process allows utilities to coordinate their plans and collaborate on how best to serve the region. The process considers transmission expansion alternatives, new generation facilities that may be planned for the region, and how additions to the regional transmission system may impact neighboring regions. SPGs invite public participation into the process, explain their findings to the public and consider the public's input into the plan and the best route for the proposed transmission lines. The results are sub-regional plans that are "rolled up" into a MAPP regional plan and incorporated into MISO's overall regional and interregional plans.