Midwest governors to cooperate on power grid expansion, upgrades

Midwest governors to cooperate on power grid expansion, upgrades

Washington (Platts)--18Jul2005

The governors of a dozen Midwest states and the premier of Manitoba have
agreed to work together to plan expansion and upgrades to the region's
electricity transmission grid. The officials announced the protocol, which
also commits them to regional cooperation in permitting and siting interstate
and international transmission lines, during a Saturday meeting of the
Midwestern Governors Association in Des Moines, Iowa. 

"Today, we have pledged to work cooperatively to expand economic opportunity
throughout the Midwest," Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack said in a statement. "Each
signatory to this protocol recognizes the value of a robust, reliable electric
transmission system to our states' economies. We support additional investment
in research, development, and implementation of the electric transmission grid
when it is needed and in the public's interest. We agree to support efforts to
improve coordination and cooperation when evaluating and processing
applications for future projects that cross state and national boundaries."

The governors noted that annual transmission investment across the US has
declined from more than $5-bil during the 1970s to less than $1-bil in 2002,
and has failed to keep pace with the significant increase in generating
capacity. As a result, the governors said curtailments of scheduled
transmission transactions more than tripled from 2000 to 2004. Signing the
protocal were the governors of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin
and the premier of Manitoba.

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