Legalectric

My NO CAPX 2020 site is up and running, little by little getting into the details. Check out www.nocapx2020.info.

They’ve extended the Comment period regarding completeness of the application.  I’ll get that posted later tonight.

And you (all you utilities checking it out) ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Stay tuned!

The Environmental Assessment for Xcel’s Chisago Transmission Project, the transmission line running along Highway 8 from the Chisago substation to St. Croix Falls (and then off through Wisconsin) has been released, and here it is, in a couple of pieces:

Chisago – Environmental Assessment

Chisago – Environmental Assessment, Appendices

So what to do if you have a Comment?  Sit on it!  Here’s the Notice of Availability — scan it for info on how and where to send Comments:

Chisago – Availability Notice

Here’s info on the public hearing from the Notice:

Public Hearing Schedule

A joint public hearing to receive public testimony in both the need and route matters will be convened in two sessions at:

7:00 PM
Tuesday September 4, 2007 and Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Chisago Lakes Area Library
11754 302nd Street
Chisago City, MN 55012

Evidentiary hearings on the Certificate of Need application will also be held in the library on September 4th and 5th beginning at 9:00 am. Evidentiary hearings on the Route Permit Application will be held in the library on September 6th and 7th beginning at 9:00 am.ach public hearing session will continue until all persons have had the opportunity to present evidence and question witnesses. If needed, the hearing may be recessed and continued by the ALJ, and additional hearing dates may be established by the ALJ in accordance with Minnesota Rules 1405.1400 to 1405.2300.

Written comments on the proposals may be submitted to Judge Lipman, at the address listed above, at any time before 4:30 p.m. on September 14, 2007. After the close of written comment period, Judge Lipman will prepare a report and make a recommendation to the Public Utilities Commission regarding Xcel Energy’s proposal.

The CapX 2020 Certificate of Need application came in the mail Friday.  HOW DARE THEY!  OK, fine:

www.nocapx2020.info 

It’s going to be a long couple of years…

Here comes CapX 2020!!! Notices are being mailed to 70,000 landowners affected by the CapX 2020 transmission proposal (if you click to go to their site, be forwarned, it’s severely constipated). It seems to me that 70,000 number is a bit shy of what it should be.

To get to the CapX2020 docket go to www.puc.state.mn.us and then to “eDockets” and then to “Search Documents” and then plug in docket 05-1115.

Here are the routes they’re proposing, shown by the dashed lines.

Let’s start with the SW MN to Prairie line, which will be continued on to Rochester and Lacrosse. Here’s SW to Prairie Island, and note how the Big Stone plant’s transmission ties right in (the SW line enables construction of the Big Stone II coal plant and transmission of Big Stone coal-generated electricity):

Utility contact info for that segment:

Brookings – SE Twin Cities (345-kV)

· Craig Poorker & Randy Fordice

· 888-473-2279

· brookingsinfo@capx2020.com

And here’s the one from Prairie Island to Rochester to LaCrosse and beyond:

Utility contact info for this segment:

SE Twin Cities – Rochester – La Crosse (345-kV)

· Pam Rasmussen: 800-238-7968

· Chuck Thompson: 866-876-2869

· lacrosseinfo@capx2020.com

Here’s the one from the coal fields of ND to Fargo to the NW Metro:

Utility contact info for this segment:

Fargo – Alexandria – St. Cloud – Monticello (345-kV)

· Darrin Lahr & Jim Musso

· 866-876-2869

· fargoinfo@capx2020.com

As we say in transmission, it’s all connected. CapX2020 — it’s not needed. It does nothing for Minnesota, just passes through, and serves only the coal interests that are building new coal plants. Without these lines, they cannot build more coal. It’s that simple.

These lines are brought to you by those “environmental” groups who did the TRANSLink deal:

ME3, MCEA, Waltons, NAWO -TRANSLink deal

And special thanks to Bill Grant and Beth Soholt of the Waltons/Wind on the Wires and George Crocker, North American Water Office, for ushering through the 2005 Transmission Ominous Bill from Hell:

Chapter 97, S.F. 1368

Gee thanks… I’m sure these 70,000 landowners will be pleased with what you’ve done…

It’s about time, some serious attention paid to this huge group of 345kV transmission lines criss-crossing the state.   Red Wing and Prairie Island are the most affected of all Minnesota communities, because we have three lines in the CapX plan, one coming in from the southwest, one going south into Wisconsin, and another coming down from the Chisago substation.  IS ANYONELISTENING????

Power line plan may be live wire

Mike Longaecker
The Republican Eagle – 06/14/2007

Xcel Energy officials are gearing up to make a case that Minnesota’s electricity needs require a massive expansion of transmission lines.

Depending on the outcome, the 150-mile-long project could mean new power lines being draped over Red Wing.

The project would extend new high-voltage transmission lines from the Twin Cities to Rochester.

Xcel officials anticipate the line would head south through Hampton on its way to Rochester, though they won’t rule out a second option that would run lines east to the Prairie Island nuclear plant.

Utility officials will present their case — possibly by July — to the state’s Public Utilities Commission.

Notices to be sent

Before that hearing begins, Red Wing residents will be among the approximately 17,000 area landowners who receive notice of the project, an Xcel official said.

“We’re at the beginning of what will be a long and expensive and very open public process,” said Laura McCarten, co-executive director for what’s called the CapX 2020 initiative.

Preliminary cost estimates for the CapX 2020 project are at about $1.3 billion, she said. Xcel predicts that would mean about $1.50 more a month for the average customer.

McCarten said Department of Commerce figures show electricity use in Minnesota has doubled since 1980 but transmission infrastructure hasn’t kept pace.

Is it needed?

Opponents of the project reject Xcel’s claim that the state’s electricity needs will soon outstrip the ability to deliver them. The PUC will be tasked with sorting that out, but one Red Wing resident has her doubts that the need even exists.

Carol Overland, an advocacy attorney on utility, regulatory and land-use issues, said Xcel overestimates the need, citing a North American Electric Reliability Council study showing demand in the immediate area growing by .6 percent.

She suspects the project — to be linked with other transmission lines — is instead using Minnesota land as a conduit to provide more power to the East Coast.

“Is that something that should be built on the backs of Minnesota ratepayers and landowners?” Overland said.

She also noted that a Minnesota Supreme Court decision limits transmission projects to existing corridors. That would likely mean the project following the alternate route to Prairie Island, she said.

Also watching the CapX 2020 project closely is the Prairie Island Indian Community. Attorneys for the tribe filed a letter with the PUC, stating that the project could have “a significant potential impact, whether direct or indirect.”

In the March 2007 letter, tribal officials said they would reserve judgment on the project, but pledged to be heavily involved in a process McCarten said could take more than a year.

Statewide transmission efforts received a major boost from the Legislature during the 2005 session.

Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, said he sees a need for the new power lines, especially considering the new wind generation sources that were mandated through a renewable energy standard signed into law this year.

“If we’re going to be a leader in this state in renewable energy,” Murphy, an Xcel employee said, “you’ve got to move it from where you generate to where you need it.”