Introduction

Improvements increase reliability, access to regional markets.

ATC continues to focus on its duty and responsibility to plan, operate, build and maintain a robust electric transmission grid serving portions of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The five million electricity consumers who receive power over the ATC system have experienced improved reliability, and the grid is providing our customer utilities with greater access than ever before to regional energy markets. This has helped moderate electricity costs for consumers and bring renewable energy to market.

ATC continues to evaluate the grid to meet future electric system needs. We expect the next 10 years will bring new challenges, including changes in generation sources due to the Clean Power Plan. We expect that ATC’s build‑out of the transmission system in our service area will be slowing down, while the need to efficiently maintain and upgrade older assets already is ramping up. Our investment forecast for the next 10 years is a reflection of this reality.

Because the grid is interconnected across a vast multi‑state area, one of the best ways to take care of our own backyard is to understand what our neighbors are doing in theirs. Regional planning continues to play a prominent role in maintaining and operating ATC’s transmission system. ATC is a leader in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator process to efficiently adapt and expand transmission resources to meet the changing needs of the regional energy marketplace.

This report contains a summary of ATC’s planning initiatives, as well as an overview of network and asset renewal projects in each of our planning zones. The 2015 10‑Year Assessment covers the years 2015‑2024 and forecasts $3.7 billion‑$4.5 billion in system improvements.

Transmission investments

The 10‑year projections from past and current Transmission System Assessments

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Specific Network Projects	$1.0B	$1.9	$1.2B	$1.4B	$1.4B
Regional Multi-Value Projects	$0.7B	$0.8	$0.5B	$0.5B	$0.5B
Asset Maintenance	$1.0B	$1.1	$1.1B	$1.2B	$1.4B
Other Capital Categories	$1.1B/$1.7B	$0.1B/$1.0B	$0.2B/$0.8B	$0.2B/$0.8B	$0.4B/$1.2B
Total 10-Year Capital Cost	$3.8B/$4.4B	$3.9B/$4.8B	$3.0B/$3.6B	$3.3B/$3.9B	$3.7B/$4.5B