(Minneapolis)– The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has approved plans for a high voltage transmission line to be built in southwest Minnesota.
Xcel Energy says the line will be about 94 miles long. It’s exact route hasn’t been decided yet, but company officials say it will be somewhere between Lakefield and Sioux Falls.
Jim Alders is a Manager of Regulatory Projects for Xcel Energy. He says the existing transmission system in southwest Minnesota can handle about 260 megawatts. Alders says about 300 megawatts of wind-generated power has been developed in the region in recent years. And he says an additional 168 megawatts is slated to go on-line by the end of this year, making the new transmission line crucial.
The cost of building the line has been estimated at 160 million dollars.
In granting the line, the P-U-C attached a stipulation requiring Xcel speed up its purchase of wind-generated electricty by several years.
(Some information for this story was provided by the Associated Press).
