Little Rock, Ark., February 3, 2012 — In keeping with its 2010 Strategic Plan to build a robust transmission system and develop efficient energy markets, the Southwest Power Pool board of directors approved a near-term transmission expansion plan that will result in the construction of $251 million in new transmission projects needed to maintain reliable supplies of electricity across its nine-state region.
These projects will be constructed over the next five years. The board also approved a 10-year transmission expansion plan, with projects estimated at about $1.5 billion of engineering and construction costs that are expected to provide $834 million in net regional savings over 40 years.
The approved suite of projects are a result of SPP's Integrated Transmission Planning process which is an iterative three-year cycle that includes 20-year, 10-year, and near-term assessments and targets transmission expansion solutions that meet reliability, policy and economic needs within the region.
The project portfolio from the ITP 10-year assessment is expected to mitigate more than 61 reliability issues, enable every state within SPP to meet its renewable goals or targets while reducing CO2 emissions, and provide regional energy savings that allow utilities to supply their customers' needs more economically. The plan calls for 786 miles of 345kv lines, 124 miles of 230kv lines and 15 transformers.
Founded in 1941, Southwest Power Pool, Inc. is a group of 65 members in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas that serve more than 15 million customers.
