Southwest Power Pool Board Approves Historic $7.7 Billion Transmission Plan

The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) Board of Directors on Oct. 29 approved a landmark plan to invest $7.7 billion to expand the region’s power transmission capacity to meet increasing future demand. The organization’s 2024 Integrated Transmission Plan is the largest in both scope and investment, the board has approved in the last 20 years.

The plan addresses projected load growth in the region in the next decade to avoid delays in transmission upgrades. The objective of the plan is to build a resilient electric grid that can withstand sharp increases in demand or disruptions from extreme weather and provide a reliable supply of electricity to ratepayers in the region. The board anticipates that the plan’s project portfolio will pay back the total investment within the first three years, with a benefit-to-cost ratio of at least 8-to-1. Ratepayers in the region could see over $10 of savings in their monthly electricity bill, according to estimates.

The 2024 plan involved 27 months of study and around 150 meetings to gather extensive input from various stakeholders. The board evaluated over 2,000 potential solutions to system issues, to finally choose 89 new transmission projects. These projects cover 2,333 miles of new transmission lines and rebuild 495 miles of existing ones.

SPP oversees the wholesale power market and electric grid for 14 states in the south-central part of the U.S. In recent years, electricity demand has risen steadily in the SPP region, due to new sources such as data centers, crypto mining, and the production of oil and gas. While creating the transmission project portfolio, the SPP considered several areas in the region that will see a rapid growth in demand from these new sources.

Regional transmission organizations are being proactive in planning ahead to address future load growth and transmission challenges. Last month, a transmission plan developed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas in the Permian Basin Region received regulatory approval.