Latest / Grow Clinton Podcast / GCP263 - Powering Growth in the Greater Clinton Region w/Cheri Monahan of ITC Midwest

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GCP263 - Powering Growth in the Greater Clinton Region w/Cheri Monahan of ITC Midwest · Grow Clinton Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: We can't choose to say no to a project.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_03: If they want to come, we have to serve.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: You're listening to the Grow Clinton Podcast.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Grow Clinton is a 501c6 nonprofit economic, community development, and tourism organization based in Clinton, Iowa.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: For more information, visit growclinton.com.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Again, that's growclinton.com.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, back to the show.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: What's happening, all you beautiful people out there in Podcast Land?
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for tuning in to another episode of the Grow Clinton Podcast.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's Grow Clinton.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody said to me the other day, Bro Clinton.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: I like it.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm Grow Clinton.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Can you spell that?
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Grow.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: G-R-O-W.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Grow Clinton.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: They're like, oh, I thought you said Bro Clinton.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, well, there's probably a time and a place to use that every once in a while.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: All right, whatever.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Anyways, for those that are not familiar, we are an economic development organization that also focuses on tourism in the eastern side of the great state of Iowa, right along the mighty Mississippi River.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: My name as always Andy Sokolovich, president and CEO of Grow Clinton, host for this episode, joined in the Stew Stew Studio by Jenny Home, our director of member and community relations.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Jenny, what's happening?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: I just saw Matt, our Matt, in a fabulous t-shirt.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Matt Parbs, our VP.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: He used to be a VP of something, and then I got tired of typing it.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: So we just on the org chart and officially changed his title to VP.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, he's got it coming.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he does so much work.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was too much.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: It was too much.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, no, he was running around in t-shirts.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you to Agcraft for making us some custom t-shirts to promote our upcoming inaugural Oktoberfest.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, exciting.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Next Friday, September 18th at 5 30 over at the Copper Mill here in Clinton.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: The weather's gonna be amazing.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: I know it.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: I saw that.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: We are gonna have a legit German polka band.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Are you gonna polka?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: I don't really know how to, but yes, the answer is yes.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm pretty sure Matt already does polka.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen his dance moves.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think they're more in line with polka than anything else.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, very true.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: His learning curve will be pretty shallow.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: No, we're gonna have traditional German food, brats, potato salads, sauerkraut, of course, some German beer will be on test, as well as some wines, and of course, there'll be some cocktails out there from the rusty wagon.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Germans and cocktails, really?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, recipe for disaster, recipe for my liver to be destroyed.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's gonna be great.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then we're if you're feeling like getting crazy that night, it's just a stone's throw away from the Hampton Inn and Wild Rose Casino and Resort.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: So making that good decision.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sponsors, Jenny.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, Mike Check courtesy of Citizens First Bank.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: The bank that is proudly sponsoring this podcast is always in tune with our community.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Find them at go cfb.bank.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Banking as it should be with Citizens First Bank.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, F D I C Agcraft Printware.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: We just gave them a shout-out.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: They've been in the custom apparel games since 1974.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: For all of your customized needs, whether it be for work or home or a family reunion, go to adcraftusa.com.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: They can pretty much customize anything, Jenny.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Then also check out Sully Sports.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's an actual physical location right here in Clinton.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's an amazing sporting goods store on 19th Avenue Northwest, but you can go to SullySports.com and join the Sully Shirts Club.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: $24.99 a month is what I pay.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Every month I get an exclusive club member only T-shirt plus 10% off everything in the store.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Miles Communication.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they hook us up with Wicked Fast High Speed Internet to ensure this broadcast is crisp, clear, and consistent.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Mile offers residential and commercial services as well as television and telephone options to meet your home or company's communication needs.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: They're not in your neck of the woods, they are on their way.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Milestelephone.com, Lionel Vasel, Clinton Complex, producing high density, low density polyethylene plastic pellets.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, I'm getting good at that.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Used to create a variety of products, including household industrial bottles, pressure pipes, food packaging, outdoor durable goods.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, even milk jugs?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Do you even know that film that's inside of the fast food cup that you get so that the moisture does not seep through?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: All the things we don't think about.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's a Lionel product right there.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Lionel's committed to being a responsible, engaged neighbor in the communities where they operate, just like here in good old Sea Town.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Lionel Bassell, solutions for a better tomorrow.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Great show today, Jennifer.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: Speaking of things that we take for granted that we need every single day and really power our whole lives.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you turn the light switch on, flip it, boom, lights come on.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: There they are.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: But how does that happen?
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know you have a cable that you're not supposed to touch that comes from a power line to your home, your residence, your commercial space, your place of business.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: But today we're talking to Sherry Monahan, a good friend of mine at ITC Midwest, the transmission electric service provider.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: And Sherry's going to share with us some information regarding what's the difference between transmission and distribution electric and why ITC Midwest is making substantial investments in our community here in Clinton, Iowa.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Sherry, thanks for joining us.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me, Andy.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now you work for ITC Midwest.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: What does that even mean?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: What do you guys do?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_03: So we are the largest uh independent, so transmission only electric provider.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_03: And in 2007, we purchased the transmission system from Alion Energy.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_03: And um part of the transaction or that sale uh with the Iowa utility board at the time was that we needed to make the system and invest in the system for uh to improve reliability.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: And so we've done that uh since 2007, put$5.8 billion into the backbone of mostly Iowa, but 5.8 what?
• 5:34
  unknown: Yeah.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: 5.8 what?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, what billion or million?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: Billion dollars.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Man, now we're talking Jenny kind of money right there.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you$5.8 billion in infrastructure improvements to strengthen the reliability of electric service, especially right here in Kent Home.
• 5:53
  unknown: Yep.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_03: Now, another really important statistic because you are a big manufacturing town, is that that has reduced outages by 77%.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_03: So that's not that's lost production time.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_03: Outages cause, you know, uh loss of materials, um, just efficiencies in general.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: So improving the reliability will not only help our current uh industrial base and and uh obviously when you want to turn your light switch on, you want the light to go on, yeah.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um, all of those things happen because the backbone of the grid has been strengthened over time.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so uh you're a longtime member investor in Grove Clinton.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: And at first I thought when I got this job, of course, seven years ago, I didn't really realize the connection of the relationship.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know if you're in competition with the lion.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't, you know, I didn't understand all that.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: So explain, you know, your relationship with the lion.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so um electricity really requires three three things.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: It requires you to generate it somewhere.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_03: That could be solar, wind, gas, coal plants, nuclear plants.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_03: Then it requires transmission to take that generation from where it's being generated to where it is being where it is needed.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_03: And then you need the distribution system to take it off the highway, off the large power lines that that we focus on and take it down to each individual um business or um to your household, to your communities.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_03: So in our instance with Alliant Energy, it takes both of us because they do generation and distribution and we do transmission.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_03: But we also um have 189 other connected customers.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_03: So we have solar farms, wind farms, obviously independent power producers that are connected to our grid, but we're also connected to the rural electric cooperatives and municipalities across the state.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it's more than just looking at a wire somewhere and going, you just gotta run it down the wire.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right?
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's a three.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_03: Mostly those are buried, but you cannot bury uh transmission very easily.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_03: So you're gonna see ours on large poles and wires because we're gonna have to take it, we're gonna have to traverse many, many miles to get it from where, like I said, where it's generated to where it's needed.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_03: How many miles do you think you cover?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: We have over 6,600 miles of transmission.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it's all high voltage, so 69 kb or above.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: The largest transmission lines currently in the state of Iowa are operated at 345,000 kilovolts.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_03: So definitely don't want to touch those wires.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but that's why they're also so high up in this in the in the sky on those large poles.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's a smart thing to tell me because I'm the type of guy that's like, my son's like, Dad, should I kill the breaker?
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, nah, this is a simple swap out.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: We'll be fine.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: You are next thing you know, there's sparks, and he's like, and I'm blinking really fast.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Dad, you electricate yourself?
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Yep, yep, did it again.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Tim the toolman Taylor right here.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, Sherry, you know, we talked about generation of electricity.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about the transmission.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: You refer to yourself kind of as the highway, right?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Getting that high electric load, that 345 KV or up, you know, all the way down to 69 KV, all the way to the distribution provider, which then steps that even further down through a transformer, excuse me, through a uh substation, and then sends it out to the end user, and then they can turn the lights on and off, right?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: So what's above you then?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you're the transmission provider, what's above you as a as the grid nothing above us?
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: We are it.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: So we we like to say if you have a question that the answer is transmission, yeah.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, it's very needed until we can come up with a different way that um to uh get electrons from where it's generated to where it's used right now.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: We need still need poles and wires to do so.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: And you're doing a great job in that investment.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: But then what is I always thought it was MISO, like MISO SU.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like SU.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: But it's MISO, it's an acronym for MIS.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, what is that?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: And how does that impact your operations?
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so we described the transmission system as like the four-lane uh or six-lane highway, they're like an air traffic controller.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, they don't own any assets, but they are making sure that the system works reliably.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and as generation sources are being added to the system, that um there's not as much congestion.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: So, as you can imagine, um instead of having large plants um centrally located, now we have it distributed everywhere.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so lots of little off-roads and and highways, um, they are responsible for making sure that they not only plan for the future, but um keep the system reliably uh working at all times.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: So this is like brain scrambling to me, of course, but I just you know I wonder what kind of jobs I mean are offered here.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: I know you from start to finish, what who works who works at ITC?
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh, um, so many people.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not an engineer, so um, my background's in finance.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: We have a whole um you know group of people that are outwardly facing uh to the public so we can put it in layman's terms, layman's terms, and have conversations.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: We have very smart engineers uh throughout the building, wonderful contractors that are out, you know, in all um day, night storms uh uh recovering and and ensuring the system is reliable and doing maintenance.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: And then uh we're doing an awful lot of building.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um is, as I mentioned, is one of their roles is to make sure um that they're they're uh preparing us for the grid of the future.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_03: And that's you know, all of the onshoring that's happening, the data center boom, um, etc.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_03: It takes a long time to build transmission lines.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_03: And so their forward thinking and planning uh regionally uh for the grid is gonna set us up for success.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: How do you plan for that?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, what how do you determine how much energy you think a certain community is gonna need?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's really up to the load serving entity, so the alliant, the municipal, the co-op to really understand the electric needs of of each uh community in aggregate.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_03: And then MISO looks at at trends, what what's happening?
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, luckily um the AI boom hadn't happened quite yet when they planned long-range transmission plans, uh the LRTP lines, it's called Tranche One.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_03: So part of that was a$10 billion um uh portfolio of projects across the MISO Northern states, so 12 states in the Midwest.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_03: Iowa had the highest uh return on investment for those, for that$10.3 billion portfolio.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so we were lucky enough to, in our territory, be able to build one billion dollars of those projects.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_03: Mid American is the other um transmission owner in Iowa.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_03: They were they are also building a billion dollars worth of those projects.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_03: And honestly, that's gonna strengthen um the the grid in Iowa in the commute, every community, yeah um, as it just strengthens the high voltage system, helps bolster the lower voltage systems in everybody's community.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_03: And then as you know, these projects are large, um, data centers are large, uh, we're still getting large manufacturing inquiries.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_03: And so um, we we ended up being kind of the bell of the ball for economic development um because it's not even, I've heard somebody say that it's not even necessarily that that they have land.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: They their first question out of their mouth is uh, what power and and what capacity do you have available in your community?
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: Every single manufacturing project we worked on in the last probably five years, the first question they ask is tell me who my electric provider is going to be.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: And they want to know about downtimes.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes, you know, it's it's somewhat unfair too, because for alliance, I mean, we've we've had downtimes, uh, and that's a squirrel that climbed into a transformer and fried itself.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: So there's little things, little caveats to everything, but the redundancy too of the utility, making sure there's a backup plan.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's it's really a science and how it all works, but it's always the tip of everybody's tongue.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: So we've heard you, Sherry, say MISO several times.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: I love acronyms, I really do.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: I was a former air traffic controller, however, I do like to know what they mean.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: So, mid-continent independent system operator.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: That is what Sherry referred to as the air traffic control of electric service, making sure that they identify where the load is needed and track all that stuff to ensure that transmission companies and distribution companies are playing by the rules and meeting the customers' expectations.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: So we talk about capacity, having enough electricity within our communities to support growth.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you brought up data center development.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that's a relatively popular topic right now in Clinton, Iowa, because we have a proposed project that would, uh if it comes through to fruition, be the largest data center campus in the state of Iowa.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when people hear their electric demands, their jaws drop.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Not mine, because I've worked with a lot of advanced manufacturers who are not very far from where they're proposing to be.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: So again, it's based on industry, but with this data center, uh, when we were able to recruit the data center to our community, it is going to force ITC Midwest, not force, allow them to, in partnership with the developer, to extend some lines towards our neck of the woods.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me what the benefits are associated with doing so.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um, great question.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_03: You know, ITC Midwest has a responsibility to provide reliable and resilient electric uh transmission transmission service to meet that electric demand.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_03: So we can't choose to uh say no to a project.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_03: If they want to come, we have to serve.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_03: And we want to do so reliably.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_03: The benefit is that bringing in uh additional robust infrastructure into Clinton is gonna create an even stronger backbone for some of the um some of the sponsors I heard you talk about, Lionel Basell, um, Nestle, um ADM, all of the all of the industry um that also may have growth plans.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_03: So the benefit is that we are going to make sure that um the cause of those infrastructure improvements are paid by the person that's asking for that.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_03: But the benefits are going to be um uh felt by the community and really uh even greater into eastern Iowa um by uh bolstering the uh transmission grid in the Clinton area.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it's I mean, for those that are not involved in economic development or do not work in the utility industry, it may sound like it's not necessary, but as somebody who works to recruit businesses and helps existing industries expand, having the capacity at the ready with infrastructure that is new, brand spanking new, and capable of meeting their electric demands as they grow and meet the demands of their market, that is huge for us.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, I don't know how to convey that any easier.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I try to tell people like, you know, we don't want to be in a position where we do not have enough capacity to serve a large user.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: We want to be in a position where we have plenty of capacity to surge a user of all sizes.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: And through our partnership with Alliance and ITC Midwest, uh, we have the capability of doing that.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: And you bring up a really great point because it's not, you know, take any project aside, you know, any proposal aside right now, there's a future too, and it is all industries, you know, correct?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that you're serving any future industry that might come here, would I consider coming to Clinton?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really important.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_03: And I I like to describe um, you know, I we we talked about the 5.8 billion.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_03: It helps us um monetize those um investments even further, meaning that yes, we will have to have additional investment um for a large load that comes to Clinton, but we're also going to have the benefit of spreading those costs across more electrons.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_03: So I like to talk about our rate as a denominator issue.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_03: We've put capital investment, um, FERC allows us to earn a rate of return on that.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_03: We maintain the system, and then it's divided by the load or the um the amount of megawatts we serve across our system.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_03: So adding these uh heavy electric users benefits everyone, and so much so that um we have been outwardly stating that our transmission rate will uh reduce by 20% by 2030.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_03: And for a system that has continually invested um to get that reliability but has seen zero load growth, this is coming at a at a beautiful time as we're um putting another billion dollars worth of infrastructure uh into the state and attracting large loads, having downward uh pressure on the transmission rate will just be a flywheel effect of additional investment.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: So you're basically talking about bulk buying, like the Costco effect on uh electricity.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we've heard somebody else use that electron analogy too to make sense.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, just imagine all the electrons that are zipping back and forth at light speed through these lines, and every electron has a dollar and you have a flat rate that you need to pay.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: Would you like to have that flat rate split between more electrons or less electrons?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's more money coming out of your pocket, the fewer the electrons.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's just simple math.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, it does frustr me often when people are like, Well, no, they're gonna come in and use a lot of electricity, so ours is gonna cost more.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Makes no sense.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: We're bringing in more to spread farther to reduce the overall cost for the average user.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: And Sherry said something important too that you've the the cost will go to the person who the entity that's asking for it.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: Is that correct?
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we'll make sure that they um they pay for the infrastructure needed to serve them.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_03: The benefits are going to be widely spread, though.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_03: And um, so and the narrative that people are picking up are narratives that are happening on the east coast that are outside of the MISO region.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_03: So there's other RTOs.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_03: MISO just happens to be the 15 state region.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, we're in MISO North, it goes all the way down to uh Louisiana, but other RTOs, other states that like MISO.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_03: MISO is a regional transmission owner or operator.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_03: So uh right next door uh to the west of us is called SPP.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_03: To the east of us, um, it's PJM.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_03: And so those markets, unfortunately, or fortunately, for depending on where you're at, we're in the MISO market.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_03: We we have a ton of benefits for being in that region.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_03: On the East Coast, they just have a regulatory, uh, regulatory differences, their regional transmission or their their RTO is different.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_03: And unfortunately, the the residential um ratepayer.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: On the East Coast are paying for large investments.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_03: They just don't have the mechanisms that we have in place in Iowa to protect the consumer.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: No, it is it is impressive once you start to peel back the layers.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's not as cut and dry as everybody thinks.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: There are local, state, and federal regulatory requirements that every, whether you're a transmission or distribution electric provider, have to comply with.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have a choice.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's the law.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: You can't just pull the rug out from underneath somebody and go, gotcha.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: And here in Iowa, we have the Iowa Utility Commission, which that's a commission of appointed individuals that monitor everything.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: And they know exactly what's happening.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: And if a utility wants to raise their rate, they must go in and submit a rate case and justify the rate uh increase.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not just, I mean, people just think this is so like reactive.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: It just happens.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's arbitrary.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've looked, I saw it on Facebook.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's gotta happen.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna happen here.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's not true.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many outside influences that overall impact that project.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: Craziness.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_03: And even yeah, building it so that they can come.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_03: You can't do that for transmission.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_03: We couldn't put any additional dollars.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_03: Like if you if you even wanted to make sure that you had, let's say, 500 megawatts available in Clinton.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we we can't do that.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: We can't, that would be um putting that those costs on the backs of everyone hoping and praying that uh that a project comes.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_03: So MISO um is the regulator of that.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_03: So when we have a project, it has to get approved through MISO.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_03: They they are getting projects from you know many different load serving entities.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_03: So they have to look at it um, you know, from uh 50,000-foot view um to ensure that the entire system is gonna be able to handle that those new loads.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: So outside of AI, what what industries are you seeing the most growth in or the need the most service?
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_03: Well, right now it is data centers.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but we um you know we have been uh recording a uh another large load through an RFI through the state of Iowa that we're hoping to hear on in the next two weeks.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, that one is also attractive.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_03: Iowa is attractive because of one of these long-range transmission line uh projects, LRTP projects.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_03: And it's in southern Iowa, um, but it's already it was it was approved in 22.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_03: We've had PI meetings, we've gone through the easement acquisition process, so it's well underway.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_03: So remember that transmission sometimes takes four to six to ten years to build.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: So if you start today and say, well, I can I can get you power in six years, um, Andy, it you know, do you get do you get a phone call back likely?
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um I mean, so having that already um already planned, um, we have a uh in-service construction date that's within their timeline.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_03: That's attractive.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_03: And so as we get these billion dollars worth of projects online, we're gonna see follow-on investment because um site selectors are are gonna follow what's happening at MISO and transmission that's being built and looking at areas um you know that are attractive, right?
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, companies looking to make a relocation decision aren't the most patient in the world.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: No, and we that's what you know.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: We always do kind of like a pregame huddle before we meet with the site selector or prospective business attraction project, whether it's the ownership, C-suite, whatever, and we say, okay, here's the deal.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Do not throw out these crazy number of years before you're gonna be able to serve their load.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, if that's the reality, share it.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: But if it's not, if that's the extreme, keep it to yourself, right?
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because we're gonna do everything we possibly can to make sure we meet the demands of that company if we want to attract them.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because no, what I'll get a I'll get a call, like Sherry said, and it'll be some older guy saying, in six years, I plan to be sitting on a beach somewhere on the floor to sit on my time.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna be waiting for the electric load to be met.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: So that's how that works.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: Sherry, the the gentleman, the desk you're sitting in right now, Dusky, you guys work really well together.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: And what I love about his leadership and what I love about ITC Midwest is your desire to give back to the communities you serve.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: And we've witnessed that firsthand.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: So explain to me a little bit about you know Dusky's mentality, the entire ITC Midwest team regarding supporting the communities so you can make a more aggressive impact, not only just in the electric service, but their quality of life.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, we feel like we're uh important fabric to um the communities that we serve.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, this infrastructure is going to be in your community for a very long time.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you do benefit from from taxes um on that infrastructure.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we have personnel that live in your communities um throughout our footprint.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but we also feel like um to be a good partner, we need to support your efforts to continue um to prosper um and grow and be vibrant.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_03: And so we do do so through investment in in economic development organizations.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_03: We have power of connection grants um that can be seed money for um, for instance, um, oh gosh, we've helped uh communities with uh daycare uh feasibility, uh hotel feasibility, maybe starting up an industrial park, um, those types of things.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_03: And it just is really important as a as a partner um in your community that keeps the lights on, that that we're a part of um every aspect of your community thriving.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, we're all Iowans.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we're Iowanice and we want uh everybody to benefit.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_03: And um the the load growth that we're seeing in Cedar Rapids is benefiting Clinton, it is benefiting every corner and every aspect of our of our footprint.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_03: So it's celebrating the wins wherever we can find them.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um, because again, adding load growth um to the denominator issue that we have is just going to benefit everybody as a region.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I've known Sherry even before she worked for ITC Midwest.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: We go back quite a ways, and you know, she's always been very welcoming, very approachable, and is always willing to hop in the car, make a trip out to good old Clinton here to connect with us over some coffee or whatever, and ask, she always asks, like, what can we do to help?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: How can we be a good partner?
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I appreciate that about you, Sherry.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, in fact, I will be seeing you in a couple of weeks in Burlington.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: Right, the professional developers of Iowa Fall Conference.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be exciting.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, she said Iowa, 3.2 million people.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, economic development professionals, much less.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: So it is it is a very small and intimate group of us, and I look forward to the fall conference every single year.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: Again, we do what about old now?
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I feel old when I go to those.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh my gosh, we're hiring babies to do this work.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is tough when you talk to somebody and you're like, Oh, once you graduate college and like 2024, now I'm doing it, and you're like, Oh, really?
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: 2024, that's cool.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, no, you still smell like beer.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: Bad decisions.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, no, it's what do we do is we really get together.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, yes, it's a structured conference.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: There's breakout sessions, there's panel discussions.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: I enjoy those.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: I speak on many of them.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: However, my thing that I love the most is the networking after hours.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to be a partier to go out and do it.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: But and Sherry can attest to this.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's where a lot of the conversations happen between you and your peers.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the sharing of best practices, it's commiserating on shared experiences, you know, and for especially for the younger economic developers, that's a great way to start developing relationships with people that could be mentors.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: So important.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: Even like, you know, Dan Culhain out of Ames.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Dan's getting a little long in the tooth as an economic development guy.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: He'll probably punch me for saying that.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, former Cyclones quarterback.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, yeah, he and I, he's just kind of been the guy I reach out to whenever I have questions.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: And the list goes on and on and on.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: I can't just, there's just so many people that I can connect with.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: And even through Iowa Economic Development Authority, I mean, all of those business development managers are very much involved in PDI.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Michael Gould, longtime member of Iowa Economic Development Authority, actually is going to be announcing his retirement uh come the end of the year.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: So he's stepping down.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: But it's just it's amazing how much, if you're smart enough, how you can take advantage of these relationships in Iowa and grow within your career field.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: Because I don't want to say there's not a ton of competition, but you can build rock solid relationships with people all over the state.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why I truly love what uh I do here as my TV shuts off behind me.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: I, you know, I think it's really important to emphasize conferences like that and the relationships that you have, uh, just to bring it, you know, just to say it like it's more than just flipping on a light switch, right?
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's more than just turning on some water.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: These are the important relationships that we have to make things work and so that we can get a hold of somebody like Sherry and say, hey, what's this all about?
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: Or what do we do about that?
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: And that's a really important part of your job.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's cool.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: I always tell you.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I think that's how you definitely define economic development.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's just about um connecting, you don't have to be the expert in in all things, you just have to connect the people, uh, the subject matter experts, and it's all about relationship building.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: And good cocktails.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: But I always tell people like, don't be that person that just after the dinner is over, you go back to your hotel room and you know, thumb through Facebook for the remainder of the night.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: Go out and you don't have a drink.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Just go out and meet people, go out and swap business cards, get to know each other because that's where we start to learn about who we are as individuals, too.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: You hear about people's kids playing sports or you know, somebody's getting a shoulder reconstruction or something weird like that.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, and that's what you bond over.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's maybe that's just me, but I love it.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: So watch out, Burley.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_03: Uh oh.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: I will never shy away from a microphone.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: Sherry, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast again.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: Sherry Monahan from ITC Midwest, power and growth in the greater Clinton region.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: Never hesitate to reach out to us if there's anything we can do for you, Sherry.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_03: Same, same.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_03: And thank you again.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_03: This is really fun.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_03: And next time I'll come uh join you in your studio.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: Get in the studio.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: Jenny, what's today?
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: Today's Thursday.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thursday.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: Tomorrow's Friday.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: You got big plans for the weekend?
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you Sunday morning.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna do the half marathon of the 15th annual YWCA half marathon here in Clinton.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: Also 10K and or 5K and 10K.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: What time do you have to be there?
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh 5:30.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: I have to be there at 7:30.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I get out there.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: I want to play some music.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the DJ, the MC.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: The hardest part about that event for me is when they start passing all like the results pages and I have to announce the top three from each age group.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, you should hear this.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: I just blank on how to pronounce basic names.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I know it's Smith, but I'm like, Smith, Smith, who's that?
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: I gotta go.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: I've been up since four o'clock in the morning.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: I gotta leave.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: Then my Philadelphia Eagles play their home opener at three o'clock.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm very excited about that.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure we're out of there by then.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, get out of my way.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: Well, as long as we're gonna talk football, go hawks.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, here it comes.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: Very dominating win, 40 to nothing.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: So they set the tone for the season.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_03: Didn't Brown look great.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I hope he's the starting quarterback.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's always hard when you don't know.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it seems like that every year, too.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you want you want that information, but they always have them one or two that you're just going, I don't know.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: I hope they picked whatever.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm just saying, uh, rookie season Cooper DeGene of my Philadelphia Eagles won a Super Bowl ring, so it's kind of a big deal.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's Sherry can't see it, but I have a Cooper Dejean bobblehead right here.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: I want to get him on the podcast.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_01: I've tried to get him.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: He's all fancy.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: He was dating a cowboys cheerleader, which is like sacrilegious.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why would you do that?
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because the Philadelphia Eagles I'll tell you what, you're breaking my soul.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_01: I know somebody who would date a cowboy cheerleader or two.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: If he does, I'm playing the lottery.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's my fancy.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: All right, everybody.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Grow Clinton Podcast.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcast.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: Just search Grow a Clinton Podcast.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: Guaranteed that we will be there until we talk again, folks.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: Stay classy.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: See ya.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to the Grow Clinton podcast.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to subscribe and follow us on all your socials.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: See ya.