EAGAN, Minn. – A consortium of power utilities announced plans for a major upgrade of the CapX2020 electricity grid that includes a segment from Rochester to Plainview to Kellogg in Minnesota and then across the Mississippi River to Alma and beyond in Wisconsin. Government approval remains necessary. Maps suggests that property acquisitions would minimal. The path follows existing CapX2020 route with its 180-foot towers every quarter mile. Midcontinent Independent System Operators, based in Eagan, said the line is part of a $10 billion project with five lines in nine states. The Minnesota-Wisconsin segment, budgeted at $689 million, would have end points at the Wilmarth, 70 miles west of Mankato, Minnesota; Jump River, 50 miles northeast of Eau Claire, Wisconsin; and Columbia, 40 miles north of Madison, Wisconsin. New lines would carry 345 kilovolts.
Juicing up the grid. Goal is to accommodate new power generated from existing ad green-friendly sources.
Why the upgrade?
Midcontinent Independent System Operators said the upgrades to the region’s power grid will result in:”
> More reliable and resilient energy delivery.
> Improved distribution of renewable energy.
> Reduced carbon emissions.
> Fewer overloads that clog delivery.
Grid North Partners
The CapX2020 project has been renamed Grid North Partners. It’s comprised of 10 cooperative and municipal utilities:
> Central Municipal Power, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
> Dairyland Power Cooperative, of LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
> Great River Energy, of Maple Grove, Minnesota.
> Minnesota Power, of Duluth, Minnesota.
> Missouri River Energy, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
> Otter Tail Power, of Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
> Rochester Public Utilities, of Rochester, Minnesota.
> Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency
> WPPI Energy, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.
> Xcel Energy, of Minneapolis.