MISO Board Committee Endorses MTEP11

CARMEL, Ind., Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — The System Planning Committee of
MISO’s Board of Directors endorsed today the MISO Transmission Expansion Plan
2011 (MTEP11), a comprehensive long-term regional plan that recommends $6.5
billion in electric grid infrastructure investments that will enable the
delivery of least-cost energy to consumers.

MTEP11 recommends 215 new projects, including 16 Multi-Value Projects (MVPs)
that provide broad regional benefits commensurate with costs and support state
and federal energy policy objectives approved in the MISO region. The System
Planning Committee began reviewing MTEP11 and MVPs in August after MISO and its
stakeholders spent more than year analyzing the projects included in the report.

On Oct. 19, MISO staff presented more detailed information on the business case
for MVPs at the Board’s System Planning Committee and discussed stakeholder
feedback on the report, including MVPs. At that meeting, the Committee requested
all interested stakeholders to provide additional comments on the MVPs. Today,
the Committee reviewed and considered those comments along with MISO staff’s
responses, before voting to recommend approval of MTEP11, including the MVP
portfolio, to the full MISO Board. MTEP11 now goes before MISO’s full Board of
Directors for consideration at its Dec. 8 meeting. Final Board approval would
require MISO’s transmission owners to follow due diligence to construct the
facilities approved in the plan.

The 2011 MVP Portfolio is estimated to deliver between 1.8 to 3 times more
benefits than costs. For the average residential customer that translates to
about an investment of about $11 a year in order to receive the annual benefit
of $23 in lowered energy costs — a 109-percent return on investment.

“MVPs will improve reliability. They will create 74,000 jobs in the region and
generate up to $49.3 billion in benefits from the use of lower-cost generation,
reductions in energy wasted through transmission losses, and reduced planning
reserve margin requirements,” said Clair Moeller, Vice President, Transmission
Asset Management. The addition of transmission in the MISO region allows broader
access to low-cost resources for the entire market, lowering everyone’s energy
cost,” Moeller added.

For more information, see the MTEP11 section of MISO’s website.

About MISO

MISO ensures reliable operation of, and equal access to high-voltage power lines
in 12 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Manitoba. MISO manages one of the
world’s largest energy markets, clearing nearly $27 billion in energy
transactions annually. MISO was approved as the nation’s first regional
transmission organization in 2001. The non-profit 501(C)(4) organization is
governed by an independent Board of Directors and is headquartered in Carmel,
Ind., with operations centers in Carmel and St. Paul, Minn. Membership in the
organization is voluntary.

SOURCE MISO