Introduction

Powering forward – safely and reliably

For the past 15 years, American Transmission Co. has provided electric transmission service to Wisconsin, Upper Michigan and portions of Illinois and Minnesota. As the first multi‑state, transmission‑only utility in the United States, ATC remains committed to the safe and reliable transmission of electricity throughout the region.

We do so through a network of more than 9,540 miles of high‑voltage transmission lines and 548 substations, providing communities with access to a variety of local and regional energy sources.

Planning a safe and reliable transmission network involves ongoing evaluation of the system and taking a comprehensive look at the various factors that have an impact on electric use in the region. Some of those factors include business development and employment trends, proposed new generation and projected growth in electric usage. Because transmission projects take years to design and build, it is crucial to plan for new transmission lines well in advance to be able to serve our customers well.

We anticipate that the next 10 years will continue to present new challenges, including changes in generation sources due to the Clean Power Plan. In addition, as the need to build out the transmission system in our region slows down, the need to efficiently maintain and upgrade older assets will ramp up. Our investment forecast for the next 10 years is a reflection of that.

This 2016 10‑Year Assessment contains a summary of ATC’s planning initiatives and an overview of network‑driven and asset-renewal projects in each of our planning zones. It covers 2016 to 2025 and calls for $3.6 billion to $4.4 billion in system improvements.

Transmission investments

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

	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Specific Network Projects	$1.9B	$1.2B	$1.4B	$1.4B	$1.3B
Regional Multi-Value Projects	$0.8B	$0.5B	$0.5B	$0.5B	$0.5B
Asset Maintenance	$1.1B	$1.1B	$1.2B	$1.4B	$1.4B
Other Capital Categories	$0.1B/$1.0B	$0.2B/$0.8B	$0.2B/$0.8B	$0.4B/$1.2B	$0.4B/$1.2B
Total 10-Year Capital Cost	$3.9B/$4.8B	$3.0B/$3.6B	$3.3B/$3.9B	$3.7B/$4.5B	$3.6B/$4.4B