Annual Xmsn Meetings around Minnesota

Filed under:Uncategorized — posted by admin on September 14, 2007 @ 8:28 am

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Your new neighbor? Pehaps — If you’re one of the 70,000+ landowners who received a notice regarding the CapX 2020 transmission lines roaring through Minnesota! And there are even more lines planned.

How do you find out about transmission lines planned around the state? One way is to go to the annual Transmission Planning meetings, were utilities ostensibly reveal their plans for the five “planning zones” around the state. It’s statutory, Minn. Stat. 216B.2425, they have to do it, and it’s probably the only way regular people find out about transmission plans. There are a few meetings left, so catch them if they’re in your neighborhood.

Who’s sponsoring the meetings? The “Minnesota Transmission Owners” are, and here’s their site:

Minnesota Electric Transmission Planning

Who is this? Hard to tell… the site doesn’t list a specific contact, just a form to fill out with a generic email. The ones presenting at these shindigs are a motley assortment of the utilities’ management and the transmission engineers who hang around at the NM-SPG meetings, and they’re a lot of fun to argue with. The utility transmission owners participating are listed on the left side of the home page, and to find out who’s promoting transmission projects, you’ll have to go to your “Zone Meeting” or fill out their form on the site and wait for a response.

Why have these meetings? It’s statutory, a lot of time went into figuring out this process, which really doesn’t work, grrrrrrrr, but here’s from their site:

The public is invited to join representatives from area utilities in a planning meeting to discuss the electric transmission system in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.

Discussion will focus on identifying problems with the existing system in meeting the demand for electricity in the area and possible solutions, including possible new transmission projects. A synopsis of public comments from the meeting will be included in a Biennial State Transmission Plan the utilities will submit to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC). The plan will also include a list of transmission lines each utility is requesting certification from the MPUC to build. The MPUC will provide opportunity for public comment on the plan.

It’s not a bad thing, it’s good to have notice, but they now are doing it in an “open house” format which makes it hard to learn what others are thinking about this, to learn from those who know the questions to ask, and to learn what questions they really don’t want to hear — there’s no give and take at an open house!!!

These meetings have been going on for years now, originally with a presentation included:

Transmission Planning in Minnesota

There are two left, the others were earlier this week (what can I say, I had the last day of the Chisago Transmission Project hearing and needed to recuperate!) but you can still catch the Metro Zone and NE Zone:

Twin Cities Planning Zone

Date: September 17
Time: 9 a.m. – 12 & 3-7 p.m.
Location: Canterbury Inn
Address: 1244 Canterbury Road
Shakopee, MN

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NE Planning Zone

 

Date: September 19
Time: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. (?NO EVENING MTG?)

Location: Ramada Inn
Address: 2115 South 6th St.
(Bus Hwy 371 S)
Brainerd, MN 56401

Be there — don’t be surprised by your new neighbors!

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