{"id":834,"date":"2009-06-24T12:51:21","date_gmt":"2009-06-24T19:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/?p=834"},"modified":"2009-07-28T06:38:19","modified_gmt":"2009-07-28T13:38:19","slug":"press-coverage-of-rus-meetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/?p=834","title":{"rendered":"Press coverage of RUS meetings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"nocapxhere\"<\/a>Photo by Kay Fate\/Kenyon Leader<\/p>\n

Public gets the chance to comment on high voltage power lines<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hey, www.nocapx2020.info<\/a> got plastered across the screen!!!<\/p>\n

From WXOW 19<\/p>\n

Deadline approaching for CapX 2020 concerns<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From the Cannon Falls Beacon:<\/p>\n

High voltage power line headed for Hwy 52?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Comment section here, LaCrosse Tribune:<\/p>\n

Federal utilities group to begin review of CapX 2020 project<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And from the Kenyon Leader:<\/p>\n

\n

Power line irks residents<\/a><\/h2>\n

Kay Fate-The Kenyon Leader<\/a><\/p>\n

WANAMINGO \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Barb St. John attended the public scoping meeting about the CapX2020 transmission lines last week, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153basically as a (Holden) township official,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153because we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know the route\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the lines would take.<\/a><\/p>\n

On the way in to the Wanamingo Community Center, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I met one of my neighbors, and she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcboy, am I relieved. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not going to be on my property,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u009d St. John remembers. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I said, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcoh, where is it going?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and followed her back inside.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

Where it was going, it turned out, was right down St. John\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own property line in Holden Township.<\/a><\/p>\n

She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d had no idea.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ambushed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153is a pretty good word for it.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d all gotten a notification about a month ago,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but it was kind of a broad thing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

Nowhere on the notice, St. John said, did she see her property singled out as part of the transmission line route. But as a township official, she knew of the possibility.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d talked about it a little at the township level,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think they were aware (then) of this route.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meeting in Wanamingo \u00e2\u20ac\u201d which drew nearly 250 people \u00e2\u20ac\u201d was designed by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to allow input for an environmental impact statement, a project requirement.<\/a><\/p>\n

The CapX2020 utilities are proposing the construction of a 345-kilovolt electric transmission line and associated facilities to run between Hampton and Rochester. The proposal included the 345 kV transmission line from a substation near Hampton to a proposed substation in north Rochester, then on to a new or existing substation near La Crosse, Wis.<\/a><\/p>\n

The transmission line poles, which will be placed anywhere from 800 to 1,000 feet apart, will be 8 to 10 feet in diameter.<\/a><\/p>\n

Xcel Energy is the lead utility for the proposal.<\/a><\/p>\n

The route St. John saw isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t set in stone, cautioned Tim Carlsgaard, communications manager for CapX2020.<\/a><\/p>\n

The final route will be determined sometime in the fall, he said.<\/a><\/p>\n

The large turnout in Wanamingo was because \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we had narrowed down the proposed route options from many to few,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Carlsgaard said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have to provide the state with at least two route options for this project. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in that Wanamingo area, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to see it \u00e2\u20ac\u201d either on Hwy. 52 or parallel to (Hwy.) 56.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

Once the certificate of route is presented to the state, it will be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153another 12- to 15-month process with public meetings and public hearings,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. Even then, landowners or township residents \u00e2\u20ac\u0153may present the state with their own route option.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

When the final route has been determined by the state, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll talk to the landowner about acquiring an easement, a right-of-way,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Carlsgaard said.<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to a one-time payment for the land use, other compensation could include crop-damage or compaction. The amount paid \u00e2\u20ac\u0153would depend on how many structures are on the property. We need to compensate them fairly, and be diligent about pole placement,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Carlsgaard said.<\/a><\/p>\n

The $2 billion project must obtain approval from state and federal agencies before it can be built.<\/a><\/p>\n

Its supporters say the project is necessary \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to expand the electric transmission grid to meet the increasing demand for power.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

Not true, said one of its most vocal opponents.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a brain-washing going on here,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Carol Overland, an attorney from Red Wing who specializes in transmission and energy issues.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting a really strong sense that this line isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t needed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Xcel (energy) demand from 2007 and 2008 dropped 11 percent. Not each year, but total. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d planned for a 2.5 percent hike each year; that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a 16 percent swing in demand.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

The study used by Xcel to predict demand, Overland said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153was based on 2004 information, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all. It stops at 2004. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re trying to say this (decrease) is a blip on the radar, but no, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been going on for years.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

Her passion about energy got its start in, of all places, Kenyon.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153After law school, I ended up in Kenyon,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Overland said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was just about destitute; I lived above Nygaard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s (Repair) there on Main Street. City hall was just across the street then.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

In 1994, a call was put out for a committee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s input about where to put nuclear waste from Prairie Island.<\/a><\/p>\n

Overland responded.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I just went as a regular old person,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153not as a lawyer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

The experience was what got her involved in nuclear energy; the rest followed naturally, she said.<\/a><\/p>\n

CapX2020, Overland believes, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153is the biggest thing to come down the pike; 80,000 landowners in Minnesota will be affected.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

At least one, of course, is St. John, who calls the project \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unfortunate for farmers; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll break up their farmland.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

She asked a CapX official at the Wanamingo meeting why the project would be going through the middle of (farmland) sections.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He told me, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcbecause there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too many houses along the road,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u009d St. John said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too dangerous to go near houses, but you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll put it over my land? He said no, he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean that, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what it seemed to imply.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

For the time being, she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just gathering information and informing the rest of Holden Township about this. People say, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwell, how would you like it if you didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any electricity?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 And I tell them, this electricity isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even for us, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going over us.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

The federal officials \u00e2\u20ac\u0153want some substantial reasons for why (the project) would change the environment,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d St. John said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve spent all these years conserving energy, and now it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coming in and stepping on us.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a><\/p>\n

For her part, Overland is challenging the project on its entire basis.<\/a><\/p>\n

The EIS process alone is predicted to take at least two years, which she said \u00e2\u20ac\u0153gives me hope that it will be thorough.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not enough, though.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Some people say, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwell, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s OK, as long as there are conditions, if it goes somewhere else.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Well, no; then that means it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s OK. That means it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to go through someone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s property. We need to start better conservation policies, more renewable energy sources,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/a><\/p>\n

St. John said her neighbors will be hearing from her.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We were totally unaware that this route was cemented in,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I just want them to know that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a big red line going right through Holden Township, and it looks pretty specific to me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo by Kay Fate\/Kenyon Leader Public gets the chance to comment on high voltage power lines Hey, www.nocapx2020.info got plastered across the screen!!! From WXOW 19 Deadline approaching for CapX 2020 concerns From the Cannon Falls Beacon: High voltage power …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,192],"tags":[14,171,27,35,170,28,163],"class_list":["post-834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-coverage","category-rus-eis","tag-capx-2020","tag-high-voltage-transmission-line","tag-nocapx-2020","tag-powerline","tag-rus","tag-transmission-line","tag-usda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=834"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":944,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834\/revisions\/944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nocapx2020.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}