More multibillion-dollar transmission projects proposed for Iowa, Midwest

• MISO announces new transmission projects, including several in Iowa
• Projects — still being finalized — expected to cost at least $17 billion
• Iowa court case holding up progress on other transmission projects

Power grid operators recently announced a second batch of new transmission projects that, if approved, would wind through Iowa and the rest of the Midwest to improve the grid’s reliability, cost-effectiveness and resiliency.

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, manages Iowa’s energy on the power grid, along with that of 14 other states and a Canadian province. Part of that infrastructure includes transmission lines that carry electricity across the grid.

In 2022, the MISO board approved a $10.3 billion batch of 18 new transmission projects collectively called Tranche 1. Five of those projects were planned either wholly or partially in Iowa. The tranche marked the first of four planned for MISO.

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The latest proposal — Tranche 2, which has not yet been solidified and approved — builds on its predecessor. Rudimentary mock-ups suggest about eight new transmission lines may be added across East-Central and Southern Iowa. Those routes are subject to change throughout the approval process. The current draft of Tranche 2 is expected to cost between $17 and $23 billion.

The projects would introduce the first 765 kilovolt transmission lines in Iowa, which can carry around four times as much electricity as traditional 345 kilovolt lines. If fewer lines are needed to transport the same amount of electricity, that means less land should be impacted by the additional infrastructure.

“This portfolio focuses on creating a regional backbone to meet the long-term needs of our region,” said Aubrey Johnson, MISO vice president of system planning, in a statement last week. “Our transmission solutions — creating a sort of interstate highway system for electricity — enable the future resource plans of our states, utilities and members by addressing regional needs, while recognizing that local issues will continue to be addressed.”

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In MISO’s western region — which includes all of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota along with slivers of nearby states — 20 percent of member generation facilities are overloaded with more energy than they can send out. Collectively, they curtail their annual output by more than 15 percent to balance energy supply with grid capacity. Energy losses over transmission lines in the region sit at 11 percent.

The planned transmission upgrades would allow the grid to carry more electricity, easing congestion. That leaves room for the additional generation projects projected for the grid, including more renewable energy generation. Additionally, it will make more energy available for new companies, like the $576 million data center planned for Cedar Rapids’ Big Cedar Industrial Center.

Expanding the Midwest’s network of power lines and transmission infrastructure would also make the power grid more resilient to weather events, which are projected to grow more extreme with climate change.

Tranche 2 is “future-looking. It's the right way to plan transmission, from our perspective,” said Dusky Terry, president of Cedar Rapids-based transmission company ITC Midwest. “It’s very early in the preliminary stage — there's still more work to be done — but we’re pretty excited about this announcement.”

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Like its predecessor, the costs of Tranche 2 will be spread out across customers in the region. For example, customers in MISO’s Midwest subregion are projected to pay about 1/5 of 1 cent per kilowatt-hour for Tranche 1, MISO spokesperson Brandon Morris previously told The Gazette. That could translate to about $1.70 per month for the average residential customer in Iowa.

The deadline for completing the Tranche 1 portfolio is currently 2030. The Iowa projects are expected to be in service by the end of 2028. Only then can Tranche 2 be built.

Plans for Tranche 2 will undergo additional analyses and tweaks as stakeholders provide feedback. They’re expected to be finalized and approved by the MISO board by the end of 2024.

Court decision pauses transmission build-out

During the 2020 Iowa legislative session, lawmakers passed a last-minute bill that allowed “right of first refusal,” or ROFR, for electric transmission projects in Iowa.

The bill gave local companies — like ITC Midwest and MidAmerican Energy — priority when bidding on new transmission projects in their service areas. At least seven other states, including Minnesota and Indiana, have ROFR laws.

Because of the 2020 legislation, ITC Midwest and MidAmerican Energy initially were identified as the transmission owners for MISO’s Tranche 1 projects in Iowa.

However, two out-of-state companies — LS Power Midcontinent and Southwest Transmission — challenged the bill in court. In December, an Iowa judge agreed with a March 2023 injunction from the Iowa Supreme Court: The way the 2020 bill was enacted was unconstitutional.

The ruling paused work on the first batch of MISO transmission projects in Iowa, said Terry of ITC Midwest.

“That (court decision) was based on how the bill was passed … not necessarily that the policy was unconstitutional,” he said. “We think all that work will resume once that court case gets cleared up.”

New bills in the Iowa House and Senate in this session would enact ROFR once again.

Opponents of ROFR say, because the legislation eliminates competitive bidding, energy customers may be subjected to higher rates due to higher project costs.

Rod Pritchard, the manager of marketing and communications for ITC Midwest, said local companies are better-suited to build out Iowa’s transmission lines. He noted that ITC Midwest repaired 145 transmission lines about a week after they were damaged in the 2020 derecho. Those damaged lines spanned 2,100 miles and 26 counties.

“Our employees live in Iowa. They're here when the lights go out and are available to respond on a moment's notice,” Terry said. “That's what really separates us from an out-of-state developer that really is just looking for an opportunity to invest in a line and earn a return, but doesn't have that same invested interest in the success of the transmission system overall.”

Brittney J. Miller is the Energy & Environment Reporter for The Gazette and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

Comments: (319) 398-8370; brittney.miller@thegazette.com