Multi-Value Project (MVP) 4

Project Summary

Following years of planning and construction, ITC Midwest has completed a major new, high-voltage electric transmission line. MVP 4 is one of 17 Multi-Value Projects (MVPs) approved by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) to provide access to low-cost electricity generation, improve reliability and efficiency, and expand access to renewable energy resources throughout the Midwest. Specifically, this 345,000 volt (345 kV) transmission line will facilitate the integration of clean, renewable and cost-effective energy, including wind energy, from southern Minnesota and northern Iowa for electric consumers across the region.  

ITC Midwest owns and operates 108 miles of the MVP 4 transmission line. The last section to be completed—a 55-mile segment of MVP 4—links ITC Midwest’s substation near Ledyard, Iowa to the Colby substation located northwest of Mason City, Iowa. This line then extends 12 miles south to the Killdeer substation southwest of Mason City and 29 miles farther south to the area of the Hampton Tap, where ownership changes to MidAmerican Energy for 71 miles. MVP 4 then turns east in Franklin County, and ITC Midwest owns the eastern 12-mile segment of the line which ends at the company’s substation near Hazleton, Iowa. To facilitate the MVP 4 project, ITC Midwest constructed the new Colby and Killdeer substations. 

Studies by MISO, the regional authority that oversees electric transmission for a multi-state area that includes Minnesota and Iowa, show that the MVPs are anticipated to produce benefits for customers in the broader region of between 2.2-3.4 times the project costs.

Quick facts about ITC MVP 4 project: 

• Length of line: 108 miles 
• Total length of conductor used: 943 miles 
• Approximately 91% of the line is double circuited 
• Number of steel monopole structures: 590 
• Distance between poles: 800-1,200 feet 
• Average number of poles per mile: 5 
• Height of poles: 95-195 feet 
• Amount of concrete for pole and tower foundations: 71,456 cubic yards (equivalent to 7,940 mixer truckloads) 
• Range of depth of the foundations: 13-84 feet 
• Quantity of gravel used for road maintenance: 145,600 tons  
• Base diameter of poles used: largest diameter pole is 15 feet,  
  most are 8 feet in diameter 
• Black Hawk to Hazleton segment: 12 miles 
• Black Hawk to Hazleton segment energized: November 2015 
• Killdeer to Hampton Tap segment: 29 miles 
• Killdeer to Hampton Tap segment energized: August 2017 
• Colby to Killdeer segment: 12 miles 
• Colby to Killdeer segment energized: September 2017 
• Ledyard to Colby segment: 55 miles 
• Ledyard to Colby segment energized: July 2019