NOVI — ITC Holdings Corp. announced plans to spend $4.5 billion on capital improvements over the next five years on its 15,000 miles of high-voltage power lines.
The announcement came at an analyst day presentation this week at ITC’s Novi headquarters.
The company said it plans to spend $2.2 billion in capital improvements on its operating companies, $1.2 billion on regional infrastructure projects, and $1.1 billion in additional development projects between now and the end of 2018.
ITC also forecasted compound annual growth in its operating earnings per share of 11 to 13 percent, and annual dividend growth in the range of 10 to 15 percent.
The company also announced the authorization of the repurchase of up to $250 million worth of its shares between now and Dec. 31, 2015.
ITC president, chairman and CEO Joseph L. Welch said in a written statement: “These investments in our business are a core component of our balanced capital allocation strategy and reflect our commitment to reinvesting in the business to drive long-term value for both our customers and shareholders… The scale that we have achieved in our business over the past several years affords us the opportunity to capitalize on transmission investment opportunities while also allowing us to preserve significant financial flexibility and optimize total shareholder returns through our dividend policy and the share repurchase program we are announcing today.”
To view the full ITC presentation, visit http://investor.itc-holdings.com/events.cfm.
ITC is the only owner of interstate high-voltage lines with publicly traded stock. Back in December, it abandoned a $1.8 billion purchase of more high-voltage lines in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, owned by the New Orleans-based utility Entergy, after Mississippi regulators objected, citing insufficient protection to customers against future rate hikes.
ITC was founded in 1999 as International Transmission Co., a subsidiary of Detroit Edison (now DTE Energy). In 2003, DTE sold the subsidiary to ITC Holdings Corp. ITC Holdings (NYSE: ITC) became a publicly traded company in 2005. It owns power lines in Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.