12/9 – Power Plant Siting Act Annual Hearing

December 7th, 2025

One of the scarier transmission scenes I’ve observed

It’s that time of year, the most wonderful time of the year…

BUT what does this mean? Now it’s the “annual hearing on the Energy Infrastructure Permitting Act.” Last legislative session there were so many changes, and one that I think has “unintended” consequences is that it is no longer the “Power Plant Siting Act,” originally Minn. Stat. ch. 116C, then 216E, and now 216I.

Here’s the notice:

Notice – PPSA 2025 Dec 9 2025Download

Got that — it’s on Tuesday, at too early o’clock:

What’s the point? Well, I do ask myself that every year. Here’s what the Notice says:

I’ve been attending since ?? I think 1998, during Nuclear Waste Daze. Much has changed since then, particularly public participation — opportunities have been cut and application review has been shortened to make it “more efficient,” a la the multiple statements by Commissioners, “what can we do to make this faster”

Siting infrastructure is more important now than ever since the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has abdicate “approval” authority to MISO, and that we’re looking at lattice-tower 765V transmission lines marching across Minnesota. All this transmission with a stagnant peak demand:

And remember this from Xcel’s 2022 SEC 10K filing, page 36:

But supposedly we “need” all this transmission? What’s the rate of return for this capital investment? And what do transmission owners collect for transmission service on these lines? There are two large revenue streams here:

As if Tranche 1 wasn’t enough?

Oh, but wait, before that, there were all those MVP projects, in Minnesota along the Iowa border:

And of course, CapX 2020, from the 2006 Certificate of Need application, not very colorful (and the Bemidji to Grand Rapids line was applied for separately):

Here’s a rough artist’s (!) perception of what all that looked like with the SW MN 345kV, CapX 2020, MVP Portfolio (in MN), and MISO’s Tranche 1 for a past Power Plant Siting Act Annual Hearing. I need to update and also check to make sure everything’s included:

Right now, here’s where we’re at. Trying to track this, much less catch up from a month in Norway, is a royal pain. There’s just too much:

If you’ve not read Paul Wellstone & Mike Casper’s “Powerline: The First Battle of America’s Energy War,” now’s a good time. You can usually find a copy at abebooks.com.

MISO, you’re giving miso a bad name:

Here are the Administrative Law Judge’s summary of comments — after this, it just goes into a black hole at the PUC. Here’s last year’s and then 23 more years:

Report_20253-216064-01Download
Posted by Carol A. Overland
Filed in Other
No Comments »

Leave a Reply