Legalectric

This has been just too much to bear, but it’s time to acknowledge that there are indeed 765kV transmission lines targeting Minnesota, more targeting the “Midwest,” and get these (*#&%#( things posted. Thanks, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), thanks a bunch.

In the Jackson County Pilot:

Upper Midwest’s first 765-kV line could run through county

Here’s the general idea:

In numerical order, PUC Docket wise, the first is MISO #22, is the Big Stone-Brookings-Lakefield part of the system, promoted by our friends at Xcel Energy. The PUC Docket number is CN-25-117, and it only covers the part that’s mostly in Minnesota, Brookings to Lakefield Junction. The Big Stone to Brookings is in South Dakota, though a 345kV “Big Stone-Brookings” line was built not long ago, 2017, so why another, and why a 765kV?

Here’s the rough for this new proposal, duplicating the Big Stone to Brookings, and then, from Brookings to Lakefield Junction (anyone remember the “Split Rock-Lakefield Junction” circa 2001??? That was the first of the 345kVs in the area, Docket 01-1958.

Thus far, the only filing for that project in Minnesota is from Xcel Energy, opening a docket and the notice that it plans to apply for this Brookings-Lakefield Junction transmission line. PAY ATTENTION TO THIS LANGUAGE ABOUT MISO:

Right out the gate, they’re asserting MISO as the basis for need. There’s the statement that “MISO, a federally registered planning authority and regional transmission organization, approved its Long-Range Transmission Planning (LRTP) Tranche 2.1 portfolio of projects…” and why? Here’s what our new Minnesota statute says:

Yes, really. Did legislators have a clue that this means? I doubt it. Here’s the full statute, 216B.246 FEDERALLY APPROVED TRANSMISSION LINES; INCUMBENT TRANSMISSION LINEOWNER RIGHTS.

What’s MISO Tranche 2.1?

• MISO MTEP 24 Transmission Portfolio
• MISO LRPT Report
• Tranche 2.1 Fact Sheet
• LRTP Tranche 2 Business Case Metrics Methodology Whitepaper

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has long been allowing reliance on MISO “approval” for PUC “approval,” and there’s been no recognition that the MISO standards for “approval” are NOT the Minnesota standards. For too long, utilities, typically Xcel Energy, but any utility proposing high voltage lines, have not been required to demonstrate need for their transmission projects.

The next one is a continuation of that project, heading south, MISO #23, this time an ITC project, from Lakefield Junction to East Adair.

ITC filed its Notice of Intent at the same time Xcel filed its Notice in the other docket, using that same language as Xcel to describe it’s project and relation to MISO’s Tranche 2.1:

What about that connector from Lakefield Junction heading east, MISO #24, a 765kV from Lakefield Junction to North Rochester, and MISO #25, a 345kV from Hampton down to Pleasant Valley (note the existing Hampton-North Rochester CapX 2020 345kV line, and the OLD Prairie Island-Byron-Adams 345kV line).

And yes, next up is MISO #26, a 765kV from North Rochester to La Crosse to Columbia, paralleling Cardinal-Hickory Creek). Who’s claiming MISO #26? Yes, that’s coming too…

In PUC Docket order, Docket CN-25-121, another Notice of Intent to file a Certificate of Need application, Dairyland Power Cooperative (DPC) intends to “to construct, own, and maintain the Minnesota portion of the North Rochester – Columbia 765 kilovolt (kV) Transmission Line Project (the “Project”) from a midpoint structure on the new 765 kV line from North Rochester to Marion Road (as will be agreed between Dairyland and Northern States Power Company d/b/a Xcel Energy) to the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.”

Dairyland uses the same language as Xcel, except adding its “abundance of caution” at the end:

And then Xcel Energy chimes in, Docket CN-25-122, stating that “Xcel Energy intends to construct, own,
and maintain the North Rochester – Columbia 765 kilovolt (kV) transmission line.”

Xcel Energy again discloses its reliance on MISO:

Earth to Mars, MISO is not the decider in any of these Minnesota Certificate of Need proceedings.

And on eastward to Wisconsin… It looks like MISO #30 is a 765kV from Columbia to Rockdale. Is it going through Middleton/Madison on existing corridor?

Dropping four HUGE lines, 765kV, which has not been done in the Midwest, and all relying on MISO “approval” as a demonstration of need.