ITC Holdings is the largest independently owned electric high-powered transmission line company in the nation and the Novi-based firm is also likely one few folks know about.
But millions upon millions depend on the firm, parent company of ITC Michigan, which has been around over 20 years — an offshoot of DTE — which is now owned by Fortis.
ITC Holdings owns or operates transmission lines in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.
“ITC’s sole focus on transmission produces best-in-class operations, reliability and congestion improvements and access to all generation resources,” said Charles Marshall, president of ITC Michigan and vice president of ITC Holdings.
ITC was founded with 38 employees and transmission assets in southeast Michigan. Today, ITC has grown to nearly 900 employees with the majority in Michigan.
Marshall is the face of the company and often appears at community meetings to address consumers’ concerns and answer questions about transmission lines and other projects the company is involved with.
Should anyone need affirmation about the importance of our energy grid, let me remind you what happened Aug. 14, 2003, when the lights literally went out in Michigan, other states and parts of Canada.
“At or around 2 p.m. on Aug. 14, due to extreme heat and series of unforeseen events, a sagging power line made contact with a tree limb in Cleveland, Ohio, and over the next few minutes, generator outages and overburdened power lines caused a cascade of outages never experienced before,” Marshall said. “By 4 p.m., the lights were out for more than 50 million people in the United States and Canada. The Northeast Blackout lasted for days and became the catalyst for stricter checks and balances meant to prevent anything like it from happening again.”
ITC had a hand in figuring out what went wrong.
The company continues to work with other transmission organizations, energy providers and state and local governments to advocate for needed investment and interregional planning to insure the grid is prepared for future energy needs.
ITC Michigan owns and maintains 9,100 miles of transmission lines in Michigan while ITC Holdings operates 16,000 miles of transmission across the Midwest. The company is planning to build more than 450 miles of new poles and wires in Michigan over the next decade.
I caught up with Marshall and posed a few questions:
QUESTION: Explain the power grid and how ITC is involved?
ANSWER: Power flows to serve the needs of our state through a three-part system: From power plants and other sources where electricity is generated; through high-voltage transmission lines that carry the power long distances, and finally, into smaller, local wires known as distribution lines that bring electricity into our homes and other buildings. At ITC, we build, operate and maintain the high-voltage transmission infrastructure that holds this three-part system together, moving power from where it’s generated to where it’s needed — acting much like the country’s network of highways.
Q: Who are ITC’s customers?
A: As the linkage between the generation and distribution utility, ITC has a variety of customers in the state. These include large generation units powered by natural gas, nuclear, solar, wind, and coal and distribution utilities that directly serve end-use customers, such as DTE and Consumers Energy, municipal utility systems, rural electric utility cooperatives and large commercial and industrial customers which require high-voltage electricity.
Q: Tell me about the investments ITC is making in Michigan?
A: Our Michigan projects include: Helix-Hiple, 55 miles of new 345 kilovolt lines constructed from northern Indiana to a new ITC substation southwest of Lansing; Nelson Road-Oneida, 40 miles of new 345kV transmission lines constructed from the Oneida substation in Oneida Township to the Nelson Road substation in New Haven Township; Oneida-Sabine Lake, 50 miles of 345 kV lines will be constructed from the existing Oneida station in Eaton County to a new Sabine Lake station in Livingston County; Copperton Projects, 255 miles of 345 kV lines constructed in mid-Michigan, and Horizon/Lulu, 68 miles of 765 kV line constructed in southern Michigan.
Q: With so much talk about data centers, how is ITC involved?
A: Due to the energy required to support data centers, these hyperscalers require a direct connection to ITC’s high-voltage electric transmission system. ITC is working closely with DTE and project developers to support Project Stargate in Saline and Project Cannoli in Van Buren Township. Through these large load interconnections, ITC is able to place downward pressure on transmission rate in the state.
Q: You occasonally send missives out about helicopters examining your transmission lines. What are you looking for?
A: ITC conducts aerial patrols every spring and fall as part of our vegetation management program to support proactive maintenance objectives. The patrols include inspections of all transmission structures. Crews check for damaged or worn equipment and vegetation hazards to maintain the reliability and safety of the transmission system.
Q: How are customers benefiting from investments ITC is making?
A: At a foundational level, we are keeping the lights on. When ITC’s system fails, the consequences can be catastrophic. It’s through proactive grid investment we interconnect new generation units thus (adding) supply to the market and making energy more competitive and more affordable.
Contact Carol Cain at clcain@cbs.com. She is senior producer/host of “Michigan Matters,” which airs 5:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS Detroit and 9:30 a.m. Sundays on CW Detroit 50. See Robert Costa, national correspondent for “CBS Sunday Morning” and chief Washington analyst for “CBS News;” Valde Garcia of National Defense Industry in Michigan; Chad Graham of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society; Russ Shomberger of the Medal of Honor Convention-Detroit; and Jim McCloughan, a Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient. You can watch the show simultaneously on the two stations’ listings on Fubu, Pluto TV, YouTube TV and Apple TV.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 6 questions with the man who leads a company that monitors the grid
Reporting by Carol Cain, Detroit Free Press Business Columnist / Detroit Free Press
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