DL-Online | Cora Hoffer, May 30
DETROIT LAKES — A newly approved transmission line project will add thousands of megawatts (MW) to Minnesota’s energy grid, improving energy reliability and efficiency across the state.
In April, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved Xcel Energy’s Minnesota Energy Connection (MEC) transmission project. The project consists of a 174-mile, 345-kilovolt double-circuit high-voltage transmission line and related infrastructure. The MEC project will address the generation gap expected to occur when Xcel’s Sherburne County Generating Station (Sherco), a coal-fired power plant located in Becker, Minnesota, retires in 2030.
The MEC upgrade to the electric transmission system will cost-effectively deliver 2,000 MW of electricity to the Sherco Station and connect over 4,000 MW of renewable energy to the grid.
The MEC and similar projects represent vital improvements to Minnesota’s aging transmission infrastructure. The Minnesota Department of Commerce’s 2023 Biennial Transmission Projects Report identified 164 current and anticipated transmission inadequacies — up from 103 in 2021.
Expanding and modernizing the grid is essential to ensuring Minnesotans can access electricity when they need it. Transmission improvements alleviate bottlenecks that have led to curtailment, a process in which energy systems are forced to temporarily halt operation due to a lack of capacity on the transmission lines.
Renewable energy projects provide a valuable source of tax revenue for rural communities, aiding in the funding of local schools, emergency services, infrastructure, and law enforcement. Projects also offer landowners a reliable source of income and create employment opportunities in rural areas. To fully capture these benefits, the state’s transmission grid must be updated to ensure it has capacity to support new, local renewable generation.
Once completed in 2028, the MEC transmission line will carry power from southwest Minnesota to the Sherco site, delivering enough electricity to serve more than 1 million homes across the Upper Midwest.
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