TOPEKA, Kan., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today ITC Great Plains, LLC (ITC Great Plains) filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the approval of rates that would apply to ITC Great Plains' transmission projects in Kansas and elsewhere in the Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP) region. This application is a major milestone for ITC Great Plains; approval of the application would provide the company with the regulatory certainty required to make significant transmission investments in Kansas and the SPP region.
"ITC and ITC Great Plains have a singular focus on electric transmission because we believe it has a critical role in supporting a national energy vision, improving electric reliability, supporting the integration of wind and other renewable resources and spurring economic development," said Edward M. Rahill, senior vice president and chief financial officer of ITC Holdings Corp., parent company of ITC Great Plains. "This next step demonstrates ITC's continued commitment to Kansas and the SPP region to build a robust transmission backbone needed to achieve these goals and provide a brighter, cleaner tomorrow."
"The filing of this rate proposal is a culmination of more than two and a half years of ground breaking efforts by ITC Great Plains and its partners in Kansas and the SPP region," said Carl Huslig, ITC Great Plains president. "The approval of this rate proposal would support ITC Great Plains' investment in transmission that is badly needed in the state of Kansas and throughout the SPP region.
"As the nation's only fully independent transmission company, ITC is uniquely positioned to bring the needed transmission investment into the SPP region."
The application seeks approval of a formula transmission rate for ITC Great Plains as an independent transmission company in SPP. The application also seeks incentives for major transmission projects that ITC Great Plains has committed to construct in Kansas, including the KETA Project, which would run from Spearville to a point near Hays, Kansas and then northward to Axtell, Nebraska, and the Kansas V-Plan, which would run from Spearville southward to Comanche County and then on a northeastern track to Wichita.
Federal approval is an essential prerequisite to moving ahead with the creation of a new, independent transmission company which is dedicated to investing in transmission within the SPP region. Seeking regulatory approval from the FERC for a rate is a significant milestone for ITC Great Plains, however additional regulatory approvals will be required before ITC Great Plains can commence construction of the projects it has committed to build, including cost allocation for the KETA Project and the Kansas V-Plan.
About ITC Holdings Corp.
ITC Holdings Corp. invests in the electricity transmission grid to improve electric reliability, improve access to markets and lower the overall cost of delivered energy. ITC is the largest independent electricity transmission company in the country. Through its subsidiaries, ITCTransmission, Michigan Electric Transmission Company, LLC (METC) and ITC Midwest LLC, ITC operates regulated, high-voltage transmission systems in Michigan's Lower Peninsula and portions of Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois and Missouri, serving a combined peak load in excess of 25,000 megawatts. ITC is also focused on new areas where significant transmission system improvements are needed such as Kansas and Oklahoma through subsidiaries ITC Grid Development, ITC Great Plains and ITC Panhandle Transmission. For more information, please visit: http://www.itc-holdings.com/. (itc-ITC)
About ITC Great Plains
ITC Great Plains was formed in July 2006 as a subsidiary of ITC Grid Development, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITC Holdings Corp. ITC Great Plains is a transmission-only utility which seeks to build a more robust electric transmission system so that every electric customer in SPP will have access to reliable, non-discriminatory, competitive and low-cost energy. ITC Great Plains was granted transmission-only utility status in Kansas and has a utility status application pending in Oklahoma which provides the ability for ITC Great Plains to own and operate a fully-regulated, high-voltage transmission system that transmits electricity to local electricity distribution facilities from generating stations throughout the SPP region. ITC Great Plains is committed to working with all stakeholders to identify and solve transmission issues throughout SPP.
