Legalectric

You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but somehow it still bothers me when utilities lie. Here we go again…

Remember last week’s post about the “Phase I” transmission plans roaring through the state? In a letter dated September 5, 2005, all the big Minnesota transmission utilities had grouped together under the CapX2020 umbrella and said that three groups of projects were going forward, including a line from Prairie Island to Rochester to LaCrosse.

Well, I got a call last week, saying, how is it possible? Just the month before, they’d said “American Transmission Company determined that a new line from Portage, Wis., to Red Wing, Minn., would be too long, too expensive and have a high potential for environmental and land-use impacts.” THEY SAID WHAT??? Here’s the article:

New high-voltage line unlikely here

By REID MAGNEY / La Crosse Tribune
Thursday, August 25, 2005

A power line company considered, but isn’t actively pursuing, a high-voltage power line from Wisconsin to Minnesota that could come through the Coulee Region.

American Transmission Company determined that a new line from Portage, Wis., to Red Wing, Minn., would be too long, too expensive and have a high potential for environmental and land-use impacts.

Despite a published report indicating a line could come through the La Crosse area, ATC spokeswoman Annemarie Newman said ATC’s study did not look at routes. La Crosse is not mentioned anywhere in ATC’s filing with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.

ATC is looking for ways to beef up Wisconsin’s electrical infrastructure, and has asked the PSC for guidance on one major project to pursue.

Newman said they’re concentrating on other new lines that would bring power from northern Illinois and Iowa.

However, Newman said ATC believes connecting the Columbia coal plant in Portage and the Prairie Island nuclear plant in Red Wing would be worth pursuing if utilities in neighboring states were interested.

The 275-mile project would cost $640 million and require 159 miles of new right of way, according to the PSC filing.

Xcel Energy spokesman Brian Elwood said Xcel is working to upgrade its high-voltage transmission line between Stillwater, Minn., and Wausau, Wis.

Improvements to that line will benefit La Crosse, he said.

Reid Magney can be reached at (608) 791-8211 or rmagney@lacrossetribune.com.

And to refresh your memory, we’re talking about the WRAO Option 2, from Prairie Island to LaCrosse to Columbia. The descriptions of the Options are on page 7, and a map is on page 8. Specifics of the project are in Appendix C, page C1-2.

So now who do we believe? Should we believe ATC’s Annamarie Newman saying they “considered” the line but eliminated it? Even though ATC’s 10 Year Plan shows the Wisconsin side of the PI-LaX project — it’s that nearly horizontal line on the left:

Or should we believe the September 6, 2005 letter from William Kaul of GRE, for CapX2020, which includes Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, Great River Energy, Minnesota Power, Minnkota Power, Missouri River Energy Services, OtterTail Power, Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency and Xcel Energy?

Something tells me we ought to believe the WRAO Report, the written ATC 10 Year Plan and the eight CapX2020 utilities, and believe that the Prairie Island line is going forward. The Rochester study says it’s only a matter of ATC’s decision of whether that line goes east or south from LaCrosse, and again, my money’s on BOTH EAST AND SOUTH!

Lying… I hate it when that happens…