What we do
ATC was founded in 2001, as the first multi-state, transmission-only utility in the United States. Unlike most other utilities, we have a single focus: transmission. Our transmission system allows energy producers to transport electric power from where it’s generated to where it’s needed. It’s similar to the interstate highway system with high-voltage electricity traveling on the transmission system wires like vehicles on the highway.
Generation
Electricity is generated at various kinds of power plants, wind and solar farms by utilities and independent power producers.
Transmission
The vital link between power production and power usage, transmission lines carry electricity at high voltages over long distances from power plants to communities. This is what ATC does.
Distribution
Electricity from transmission lines is reduced to lower voltages at substation. Distribution companies then bring the power to your workplace and home.
ATC provides electric transmission service in an area from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, throughout the eastern half of Wisconsin and into portions of Illinois. Our more than 10,081 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and 582 substations provide communities with access to local and regional energy sources.
We operate our system as a single entity, providing comparable service to all of our customers. Our customers include electricity producers and electric distribution companies who count on ATC to move power from where it’s produced to where it’s needed in the homes and businesses they serve.
Our mission is to provide reliable electric transmission service to these customers. As a public utility whose infrastructure serves as the link in transporting electricity to millions of electricity users, ATC has duties and responsibilities to:
- operate the transmission system reliably
- assess the ability of the system to adequately meet current and future needs
- plan system upgrades to meet those needs in the most efficient, effective and economic ways
- construct upgrades in time to meet those needs
- maintain the transmission equipment and surroundings to minimize opportunity for failures
