ANOTHER Comment period — Mankato-Mississippi xmsn

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And here we go — the Public Utilities Commission has announced the first Comment period on the just-applied-for “Mankato-Mississippi 345 kV Transmission Line” or the “Wilmarth-North Rochester-Tremval 345 kV” depending on who’s talking…

At least 2 of my clients are affected by this, clients that I’ve heard from and are outraged, and likely many more are in the way of this project. These 2 clients’ families have already had way too much experience challenging unneeded utility projects. And yeah, here we go again.

It’s PUC Dockets CN-22-532 and TL-23-157. (if you need help, see MN PUC – How To eDockets)

Notice_4-8-2024_Comment-Period Download

What to comment on?

Big question is “given all the other transmission proposed for Minnesota, WHY? What’s the need?”

Get to work!!!

2005 – Remember the Big Stone II transmission line?

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Almost 20 years ago, after the 2001 SW MN 345 kV line (01-1958) opened the floodgates, and after the 2005 legislative changes to Certificate of Need and Transmission siting laws, many utilities jointly applied for Big Stone transmission — PUC Dockets CN-05-619 and TL-05-1275. Here’s the map:

Let’s take a look at what’s proposed for Big Stone-Alexandria-Big Oaks, CN-22-538, TL-23-159:

The western end of this is looking familiar… these folks have to go through this AGAIN?

Yet another transmission comment period!

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A comment period has been announced for Minnesota Power & GRE’s “Northern Reliability Project,” which is Public Utilities Commission Docket E015,ET2/CN-22-416 (the Certificate of Need only).

Plenty of time to read and think and write.

This time around, they’re looking for substantive comments regarding whether a Certificate of Need should be granted, so a look at the statutory criteria could be helpful:

CERTIFICATE OF NEED — SEE CRITERIA IN SUBD. 3

What the Public Utilities Commission says it’s looking for is:

As far as the rules are concerned, IF YOU IDENTIFY ANY CONTESTED ISSUES OF FACT, this is the time to request a contested case, essentially a trial, via Office of Administrative Hearings. Any request for a contested case must be made before the end of the comment period.

Here’s the full Notice:

Notice_Comment-Period_20244-205005-01 Download

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Our “good neighbors” at Xcel Energy have file an application for a Certificate of Need to add more nuclear waste casks at the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant. The application is the most poorly written filing I’ve seen from Xcel … Continue reading →