(KNSI) – Xcel Energy and others filed final plans with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission for a new mega transmission line.
The Minnesota Connection Line will use existing infrastructure as it runs through the region. It will connect South Dakota to the Sherco Generating Plant in Becker and will pull power from wind farms and other renewable energy projects to central Minnesota to offset the loss of the coal-fired facility by the end of the decade.
Xcel says the eastern half of the line from Alexandria to Becker will use existing transmission towers along Interstate 94. The infrastructure was built in 2020 to connect to power plants in the Fargo area. Xcel says the towers were constructed to allow additional lines to be included.
The PUC will now review the 345-kilovolt line proposal and route permit, which is expected to take one year. Xcel continues to work with private landowners between Alexandria and Big Stone City, South Dakota, on a route for the western stretch. Several possibilities will be submitted to the PUC sometime in 2024.
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