CapX 2020 delivers false statements (false hope?) on status of the Brookings CapX 2020 transmission line — and the paper repeats them. And the STrib picks it up and republishes the same false information. Others too:
All Business
Midwest Energy News
Morris Tribune
Buffalo Transmission Company
istockanalyst
Yup… Very strange, reports from further west of CapX 2020’s Brookings line “on the fast track.” WTF? And the request of Applicants for a delay? That’s not “fast track.” And the REMAND to the ALJ? That’s not “fast track.” Give me a break…
I’ve written to ask for a correction.
And here’s an important sentence, quoting Randy Fordice — because we know it’s all about coal and the MISO effort to get the “benefits” of displacing natural gas with coal:
They now consider the line to be a multi-value project since system reliability- and service to existing substations and existing fossil fuel plants- are also benefited, he said.
Coal with benefits? Yup, here’s the MISO report, once more with feeling:
ICF – MISO Benefits Analysis Study
Here’s a quote from p. 14 and repeated at 83:
RTO operational benefits are largely associated with the improved ability to displace gas generation with coal generation, more efficient use of coal generation, and better use of import potential.
Here’s the full article – parts of it were taken and put in the STrib today under “Currents” and others quoting the WC Tribune:
CAPX line expansion on the fast track, YM board told
GRANITE FALLS — A new and larger power line could be humming with wind-generated electricity through west central Minnesota in 2015.
By: Tom Chevron, West Central Tribune
GRANITE FALLS — A new and larger power line could be humming with wind-generated electricity through west central Minnesota in 2015.
Permits are in place for the 240-mile-long CAPX 2020 electrical transmission line to run from Brookings, S.D., to the Hampton substation in Scott County. Randy Fordice, representing the CAPX 2020 project, outlined the project’s progress to the Yellow Medicine County board of commissioners on Tuesday.
The estimated, $700 million to $725 million project calls for upgrading an existing 115-kilovolt line with a larger capacity, 345-kilovolt line. Timber ‘H’ shaped utility poles will be replaced with single steel poles 140- to 170- feet tall.
The route approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission essentially follows the existing line, according to Fordice. The approved route runs through portions of Yellow Medicine and Renville counties.
The project also calls for building a new electrical sub-station in Hazel Run Township southwest of Granite Falls, and upgrading the branch from the main line to the new substation. It will connect to the existing, Minnesota Valley substation owned by Xcel Energy at its plant in Granite Falls.
The utilities have identified a 15-acre site for what will be called the Hazel Creek substation.
A consortium of power utilities — including Great River Energy, Otter Tail Power and Xcel Energy — are among the partners involved in the CAPX 2020 project to increase the electrical transmission system in the upper Midwest.
The Brookings to Hampton line is likely to be constructed between 2012 and 2014. Fordice said affected landowners within a corridor along the route will be contacted next year with information on the plans.
The line is being built to improve system reliability and increase capacity for the electrical transmission network in the Midwest.
Initially, the project was defined by regulators as a generation outlet line. Consequently those sending power over the line would have been responsible for its construction costs. In that case, it was estimated that wind power generators would have been paying most of the freight, according to Fordice.
Subsequently, regulators revised the assessment. They now consider the line to be a multi-value project since system reliability- and service to existing substations and existing fossil fuel plants- are also benefited, he said. That means the costs for the line’s construction will be shared by power consumers in all 15 of the states and one Canadian province that are part of this regional grid.
Fordice said the greater transmission capacity will benefit wind generators in the northern portion of the Buffalo Ridge. There is also a long list of proposed wind power projects waiting for approval to build connect to the expanded system.
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CapX delivers false statements on status of Brookings — No Comments
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