Input sought on CapX2020 powerline project
Line would link Brookings, S.D., to Hampton in eastern MinnesotaBy Fritz Busch Journal Staff Writer
Fact Box
If you go:
What: Meeting on CapX2020 power line project from Brookings County S.D. to Hampton, Mn draft Environmental Impact Statement
When: 1-4 p.m., and 5-8 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009
Where: Jackpot Junction, Hotel Casino, Morton; other meetings, hearings follow through Dec. 3 at Redwood Falls Area Community Center; Prairie's Edge Casino, Granite Falls; Winthrop Vets Club; Brass Top Hall, Hog Wild Saloon, Henderson
ST. PAUL - A series of Draft EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) public meetings and hearings with an administrative law judge for a joint initiative of 11 transmission-owning utilities will be held in the area from Nov. 18 to Dec. 3.
A public meeting on the Brookings County, S.D. to Hampton, Minn., draft EIS will be held from 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 18 at Jackpot Junction Hotel Casino near Morton.
New transmission lines would be built in phases designed to meet increased energy estimated at 4,000 to 6,000 megawatts by 2020 in Minnesota and the surrounding region, according to CapX2020 project proponents.
Group 1 projects include 345 kV lines linking Brookings County, S.D. with Hampton; Hampton to Rochester and La Crosse; and Fargo to St. Cloud and Monticello; plus a 230 kV line from Bemidji to Grand Rapids.
After a public process to determine need and routing, line construction is expected to be done from 2012-2015.
Total project cost was estimated at $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion in 2007 dollars.
Xcel Energy customers can expect incremental cost increases up to $2.25 a month during peak construction periods.
Power lines will serve the region's expected growth and help meet Minnesota's Renewable Energy Standard (RES) that requires utilities to deliver 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
Xcel Energy is mandated to deliver 30 percent by 2020, 25 percent from wind.
Project proponents claim the Brookings-Hampton line will expand access to Buffalo Ridge wind resources by adding about 700 mW of capacity to the transmission grid.
Project proponents claim Minnesota needs about 5,000 mW of renewable energy to meet the RES.
The preferred route linking the Cedar Mountain Substation area with Hampton runs a mile north of Morgan and Fairfax, turns a couple miles south of State Highway 19, then east, just north of Nicollet County Highway 8, crossing the Minnesota River just north of Le Sueur, then east to the South Helena Substation.
An alternate route runs several miles north of State Highway 19 from several miles west of Vesta, crossing the Minnesota River a couple miles west of Belle Plaine, then east to the North Helena Substation.
Before lines and towers up to 175-feet tall can be built, permits and approvals are required from Minnesota and South Dakota Public Utilities Commissions (PUC) and several federal agencies including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
CapX2020 Communications Specialist Randy Fordice said he couldn't say how much of the project power capacity would be used for renewable energy because it's against federal law to reserve power line capacity for any source.
He added that the Brookings-Hampton line will increase local power reliability by connecting to substations near Franklin, Granite Falls and Marshall.
Fordice said Administrative Law Judge Richard Lewis would preside at Brookings-Hampton public hearings.
He added that public comments on the project will be accepted through December and possibly into January 2010.
The Minnesota PUC will rule on project-preferred and alternative routes sometime next spring, Fordice said.
Utilities that are part of CapX2020 include the Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, Dairyland Power, Great River Energy, Minnesota Power, Minnkota Power, Missouri River Energy Services, Otter Tail Power, Rochester Public Utilities, the South Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, WPPI Energy and Xcel Energy.
Scott Sparlin of New Ulm, Executive Director of the Coalition for a Clean Minnesota River (CCMR) said he hopes CapX2020 projects will service local wind generation.
"We agree there are more electrical needs, it's just what kind of power is used on the lines," said Sparlin. "We don't want coal (power) plants to supplant wind generation."
He added that citizens have to be vigilant of the project and its affect on humans and natural resources.
Project opponents including the Citizens Energy Task Force claim the new power lines would carry coal-generated power to Chicago and big cities to the east.
(Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).
