Huge investment in new Midwest powerlines, including electricity ‘superhighway,’ gets approval

Minnesota will see more new high-voltage powerlines in the coming decade, after a key vote Thursday greenlighted $21.8 billion in new transmission projects across the Upper Midwest – including the region’s first electricity “superhighway.”

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which manages the region’s electric grid, approved a plan for 24 new transmission projects in nine states, including Minnesota.

It’s the second phase of investments in the Midwest’s power grid in the past two years. MISO approved 18 projects in 2022, which are currently going through the permitting process.

Electric utilities and clean energy advocates say the new transmission lines and substations will help deliver renewable energy to where it’s needed, meet the growing demand for electricity and make the grid more reliable.

“How we use and generate electricity in Minnesota has been evolving, and it’s not just in Minnesota, the Upper Midwest. It’s the nation,” said Priti Patel, vice president and chief transmission officer of the electric cooperative Great River Energy. “And the transmission grid that carries electricity from where it’s produced to where it’s being consumed likewise has to change.”

The planned projects include building a 765-kilovolt “backbone” across MISO’s Upper Midwest territory. It would be the first of its size in Minnesota, and able to carry the same amount of power as six of smaller 345-kilovolt powerlines already in the state. 

“It’s a game changer for us to be able to deliver to our customers cheap, clean wind power from the most wind-rich resources in the country,” said Michael Lamb, senior vice president of customer delivery for Xcel Energy. 

The supercharged line would start in South Dakota, cut across southern Minnesota, veer north to Rochester, then head southeast to Wisconsin. Several utilities expect to be involved in building it, including Great River and Xcel Energy.

Several factors are driving the push to build new transmission lines. Utilities are retiring large fossil fuel-burning plants and shifting to energy produced by solar and wind farms, usually located in rural areas. That requires transmission lines to move the electricity from where it’s produced to population centers where it’s needed.

Also, demand for electricity is forecasted to grow substantially in the coming years, as more people use it to power vehicles, home heating and appliances, and tech-driven data centers consume more energy.

“If you think about all of those things and add them up, that’s driving the need to be able to move more power interregional, and creating a resilient, reliable, affordable system for our customers,” Lamb said.

High-voltage transmission lines often meet resistance from property owners concerned about the impacts on the environment, health, agriculture, property values and aesthetics. 

The projects need to go through the state regulatory approval process, with the Public Utilities Commission taking public input, deciding whether the lines are needed and determining the final route.

Last year, Minnesota lawmakers approved changes to the permitting process to help speed up the time it takes to build new projects.