Why Indiana
Need for more transmission
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) has approved hundreds of miles of new transmission lines across the Midwest, including projects connecting northern Indiana to Illinois, Michigan, and Kentucky. The transmission “backbone” envisioned by MISO’s Long Range Transmission Planning process will also tie in to the PJM Interconnection to the east, which serves northeastern Indiana — further increasing the grid’s reliability and reducing long-term costs for consumers.
Siting opportunity
Indiana’s industrial sector accounts for almost half of the state’s electricity use, and growth in demand from manufacturing and data centers is expected to be significant in the coming years.
To build the transmission needed to serve these uses while protecting farmland and other private property from unnecessary development, policy makers in Indiana can consider changing current policy to allow co-location of needed transmission projects in highway rights-of-way (ROW).
Challenges
Siting prohibition
Indiana prohibits longitudinal installations of electric transmission infrastructure in the ROW of limited access highways, including interstate highways. For highways with partial limited access, installations are discouraged but may be considered if there is no other reasonable alternative.
(See Indiana Department of Transportation, Utility Accommodation Policy, Chapter 8.)
Our work
By opening up ROW along all highways to allow for co-location of high-voltage transmission, Indiana can streamline the transmission permitting process, allowing the state to more quickly and effectively meet its energy needs while reducing the burden on private landowners.
Co-location can also foster the development of electric transportation networks as well as modernized communications infrastructure. NextGen Highways is working with stakeholders to advance options for lifting the current prohibition.
The map at right shows planned transmission projects and highlights highway corridors where transmission siting is currently prohibited or discouraged.
Coalition members
