More than $1 billion in transmission projects up for PUC approval on Thursday

Tomorrow, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) is expected to consider for approval two unrelated major high-voltage transmission line projects which will nearly span the state at a cost of nearly $1.4 billion (with a “b”).

First up on Thursday’s agenda is a $700 million project linking Big Stone, South Dakota, to Becker, Minnesota, by way of Alexandria, Minnesota. The total distance for this 345-kV line is more than 200 miles.

The Big Stone to Alexandria segment will cover more than 100 miles with the segment continuing on to Becker adding another 100 miles. Five utilities are joining together to undertake this effort.

Next up is another $700 million Xcel Energy-led project to move power from Mankato east to the Mississippi River near Rochester. In addition to Xcel, three other utilities serving southern Minnesota are involved. The project includes 120 miles of 345-kV transmission line with another 20 miles of 161-kV line.

As the Minnesota Star Tribune reported a year ago, these two project are joined by a third, even bigger, transmission line project on the drawing board.

Utilities plan power line project across Minnesota that could cost nearly $700M

The line, which would run from Big Stone City, S.D., to Becker, Minn., is the second major transmission proposal submitted to state utility regulators since August.

In addition to the Big Stone/Becker project, the Star Tribune reported last October:

In August, Minnesota Power and Great River Energy filed plans with the PUC for a 180-mile line from Grand Rapids to the St. Cloud area expected to cost up to $1.3 billion. A third roughly $690 million transmission line — from the Mankato area to western Wisconsin — is also planned.

To recap: that’s three major projects, involving more than 500 miles of high-voltage electric transmission lines crisscrossing the state and $2.7 billion (with a “b”) in installation costs.

That total dollar figure does not include financing and operating costs for the new lines, or utility profit on owning these new assets. You, the utility customer, will pay for all of it through higher electricity rates.

And why? Project advocates explain:

In recent years, utilities have added new renewable energy, such as wind and solar, and retired aging plants. Additional plant retirements and renewable additions throughout the region require us to build new transmission projects to deliver electricity from where it’s generated to where it’s used.

Project advocates describe the new renewables as “low-cost.” But they only appear to be lower cost because the $billions in new transmission lines are not included in the price.

In a bizarre twist, because renewables (wind and solar) are available only occasionally, transmission line costs are assigned instead to those resources (nuclear, hydro, coal, natural gas) that provide round-the-clock power.

That conventional power resources look expensive and renewables appear cheap is merely an artifact of the accounting system used, not their actual impact on utility rates.

If approved, the new lines should enter service early next decade.