Power-line project would transport S.D. electricity to the Twin Cities area

PIERRE — A rural part of eastern South Dakota would be one of the connecting points for a big power-line project that would deliver electricity to the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota.

Great River Energy cooperative and Northern States Power, also known as Xcel Energy, filed an application this week with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission for approval of a new substation facility near the small community of White in Brookings County.

The application also seeks PUC approval for 10.6 miles of 345-kilovolt lines and heavy-duty towers on the South Dakota side of the project. The towers would be single-pole steel structures 130 to 175 feet in height, spaced 750 to 1,100 feet apart.

The purpose of the new corridor is to increase the outlet capability for electricity generation in eastern South Dakota and southwestern Minnesota.

The new corridor is part of the much-bigger regional transmission initiative called CapX2020. Eleven utility cooperatives and companies in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin are involved in CapX2020, which refers to capacity expansion by 2020.

The companies and co-ops which might have ownership interest, depending on final agreements, in the proposed corridor are Great River, Xcel, Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, Missouri River Energy Services and Otter Tail Power Company.

Overall the Brookings-Hampton project will cover 237 to 247 miles, depending on the final routes taken, along a west-east route extend to Hampton southeast of the Twin Cities.

Construction would start in late 2013, depending on permits, with service scheduled to begin in 2015, according to the application.

However, a different timetable was outlined in a letter to the South Dakota commission by Brett Koenecke, a Pierre lawyer representing the project.

Koenecke asked that the PUC complete its permitting process for the South Dakota portion in 2011 because the owners want to start work in Minnesota in 2011 and in South Dakota in 2014. Koenecke said the permits need to be in place before final agreements can be reached on ownership.

The South Dakota portion of the work carries an estimated cost of $25.6 million. The total cost is set at about $725 million.

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