Minnesotans soon can tell state officials what they think of a plan to add hundreds of miles of electric transmission lines across the state. A group of 11 utilities, led by Xcel Energy and including Otter Tail Power Co., has proposed building three high-voltage transmission lines in Minnesota, claiming they are needed to improve service and prepare for growing electricity demands in areas such as the Red River Valley. ...Red Wing attorney Carol Overland has tracked the CapX 2020 proposal and operates a Web site that attempts to debunk the utilities' claim about needed transmission expansion. Overland said a better alternative would be to add generation facilities close to where the electricity is needed. "We're dealing with this false justification of need," said Overland, who will challenge the utilities' claims at the upcoming meetings.

Minnesotans soon can tell state officials what they think of a plan to add hundreds of miles of electric transmission lines across the state.

A group of 11 utilities, led by Xcel Energy and including Otter Tail Power Co., has proposed building three high-voltage transmission lines in Minnesota, claiming they are needed to improve service and prepare for growing electricity demands in areas such as the Red River Valley.

Utilities involved in the CapX 2020 project are seeking a critical document called a "certificate of need" for the project. To move forward, they must convince the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission the lines are needed.

A state agency has scheduled 10 public meetings over the next two weeks in northwestern, western and southern Minnesota to take public comment.

Commerce Department officials say information from the hearings and written submissions will be used to design an environmental review of the project. That review will be considered when the Public Utilities Commission decides whether to grant the utilities' certificate of need.

Opponents say this is an early, but critical, stage of the process. They say if the utilities get the certificate, it could be very difficult to stop the project.

The CapX 2020 utilities say the three high-voltage lines - plus a related lower-voltage connection from Bemidji to Grand Rapids - are needed to fix reliability problems in some areas of the state, including northern Minnesota, the Red River Valley and Alexandria.

"The system is running out of gas; it needs to be upgraded," said Tim Carlsgaard, Xcel Energy's communications manager for the project.

The CapX 2020 plan calls for three 345-kilovolt electric transmission lines:

• A 250-mile line from an existing substation in Fargo southeast through Alexandria and St. Cloud to a substation in Monticello, roughly following the Interstate 94 corridor.
  
• A 200-mile line from a substation in South Dakota's Brookings County east through Marshall and Redwood Falls in western Minnesota to a new substation in Hampton, south of St. Paul.
  
• A 150-mile line from Hampton south to Rochester and then east to La Crosse, Wis.

The companies have outlined possible route corridors for the transmission lines, each averaging about 10 miles to 12 miles wide. An estimated 73,000 property owners could be affected by construction of the three lines, but the utilities say only a small percentage of those landowners would be affected.

Specific routes for the proposed lines have not been determined. The utilities plan to seek a routing permit in early fall next year.

Not everyone is convinced the high-voltage lines are needed.

Red Wing attorney Carol Overland has tracked the CapX 2020 proposal and operates a Web site that attempts to debunk the utilities' claim about needed transmission expansion.

Overland said a better alternative would be to add generation facilities close to where the electricity is needed.

"We're dealing with this false justification of need," said Overland, who will challenge the utilities' claims at the upcoming meetings.

Total cost for the four power lines is estimated at $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion. Completion of the project would increase an Xcel Energy customer's bill by less than $2, the company says.

An Otter Tail Power official compared the need for more transmission capacity to the need to build a new road when traffic stifles an existing roadway.

"Our studies have indicated that our system's running out of capacity," said Tim Rogelstad, Otter Tail Power's delivery planning manager. "Therefore as load continues to grow in this region, we need to expand the system."

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CapX 2020

- What is it: A group of 11 utility companies proposes an electric transmission expansion project called CapX 2020.

The utilities cite a need to move electricity generated mostly at wind turbine farms in western Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, to the Twin Cities area, where demand for more power is expected to grow.

The first phase of the CapX 2020 transmission expansion plan could include the addition of three high-voltage power lines across Minnesota.

- Meeting locations:

The Minnesota Department of Commerce has scheduled public meetings to discuss the companies' request for a certificate of need - a key document needed for the proposal to move forward.

Among meetings in western Minnesota are:

Moorhead - Noon Monday, Courtyard by Marriot

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If you go

- What: The Minnesota Department of Commerce has scheduled public meetings to discuss the companies' request for a certificate of need - a key document needed for CapX 2020 to move forward.

- When: Noon Monday at Courtyard by Marriott in Moorhead and 6 p.m. Monday at Best Western Events Center in Fergus Falls.

 

Web link: http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=1856...