| Public hearings on new power lines throughout Minnesota begin
CapX2020 project will help put more wind energy on the wires
ST PAUL, MN— Several environmental and renewable energy organizations are in favor of the project, although they are looking to add conditions that will ensure renewable energy, such as wind, has a strong presence on the new lines.
The groups—Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Fresh Energy, Izaak Walton League of America and Wind on the Wires—see the proposal by 11 utilities as necessary if the state is to meet its mandate of generating 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025.
“The proposed CapX transmission lines run through some of the richest wind regions in Minnesota,” said Mary Marrow, the MCEA attorney representing her group and the other clean energy and environmental organizations. “With the right conditions, these power lines will provide the needed infrastructure to support significant development of Minnesota’s renewable wind resources.”
Among the lines proposed by the utility companies are:
- A 250 mile, 345 kilovolt line from Fargo to Alexandria to St. Cloud and Monticello;
- A 150 mile, 345 kilovolt line from the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area to Rochester and LaCrosse, Wi.;
- A 200 mile, 345-kilovolt line from Brookings, SD. to southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area.
| The utilities, including Xcel Energy, Minnesota Power, Great River Energy and Otter Tail Power Co., say the new lines are needed because electricity consumption in Minnesota has doubled over the past 25 years.
Robert Gramlich, policy director of American Wind Energy Association, testified on behalf of the environmental and clean energy groups that the lines are needed because “the most significant long-term barrier to wind energy development is a lack of transmission infrastructure.”
Wind power is one of the fastest growing methods of generating electricity in the United States. Wind power capacity has grown an average of 29 percent each of the last five years, Gramlich testified.
The key condition the groups are seeking is for the utilities to sign power purchase agreements with renewable energy developers or commit to utility-owned renewable projects using the new transmission line capacity at least two years before the lines are put in service.
“We are bullish on the pro-active, forward looking, aggregated approach CapX has taken on transmission planning, but we’ll also be asking the hard questions in this proceeding to make sure the new transmission lines facilitate as much renewable energy as possible,” stated Beth Soholt, director, Wind on the Wires. “Minnesota and the surrounding region have large renewable energy requirements to meet and the Midwest in general is poised to provide huge economic and environmental benefits to consumers by developing our great wind resources.”
The first hearing is in Moorhead on June 17, with hearings in Fergus Falls and Alexandria the following day and Melrose and Clearwater June 19. In the following weeks, hearings will be held in Marshall, Redwood Falls, Arlington, New Prague, Lakeville, Cannon Falls, Winona and ending July 2 in Rochester. For the complete list of times and locations, go to https://www.edockets.state.mn.us/EFiling/ShowFile.do?DocNumber=5242612
The public hearings will become part of the record. An administrative law judge will also take testimony from the utilities, the four clean energy groups and other parties beginning July 14. The administrative law judge will then make a recommendation to the full Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, which will decide whether to approve the certificate of need application for the CapX 2020 project. |
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