February open houses set on transmission line route
News | Published on January 22, 2024 at 1:41pm CST
Otter Tail Power Company and Missouri River Energy Service have sent public informational open house notifications to stakeholders in Pope County.
The public to informational open houses are on the Big Stone to Alexandria electrical transmission line project.
All the open houses are in February.
Otter Tail Power Company (Otter Tail Power) and Missouri River Energy Services (MRES), (on behalf of Western Minnesota Municipal Power Agency), last week notified Pope County township and county officials about the upcoming open houses for the BSSA project. The company officials said they expect to send official invitation to these open houses the week of this week.
Based on input gathered during the open houses in April and October 2023, coordination with interested agencies, and review of technical data and requirements, the project corridor has narrowed the route corridors.
“The upcoming open houses will help us refine the route corridors into a proposed route and an alternative route. We’ll include these routes in our Route Permit application to be filed with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in the fourth quarter of 2024. We’ll also include the routes in our Facility Permit application to be filed with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission in the second quarter of 2024,” it was stated in the invitation. Detailed maps will also be available at the open houses.
It was announced that there will not be formal presentations at the open houses. Each open house will provide the same information, including project displays and detailed maps to review and collect input, it was stated in the letter to stakeholders in Pope County.
The narrowed route corridor still puts the transmission line route through western Pope County and could be as close as four miles from Starbuck.
The open houses are set in February at Glenwood, Alexandria, Ortonville, Big Stone City and Benson.
The Glenwood open house is set for Tuesday, Feb. 20 from 3 to 6 p.m. at Central Square. The Alexandria open house is set for Tuesday, Feb. 13 from 3 t0 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 5637 Highway 29. The Benson open house is set for Thursday, Feb. 22 from 3 to 6 p.m. at Those who cannot attend an open house, are encouraged to connect with Otter Tail Power Company by:
•Visiting www.BigStoneSouthtoAlexandria.com to leave a comment on the online map. Emailing connect@bigstonesouthtoalexandria.com or calling (800) 598-5587.
More about the project
Otter Tail Power and MRES are partnering to develop, construct, and co-own a new 345-kilovolt (kV) transmission line, known as the BSSA project. The new line will connect Otter Tail Power’s Big Stone South substation near Big Stone City, South Dakota, to a substation owned by Missouri River Energy Services near Alexandria, Minnesota. The BSSA project is needed to ensure electric reliability, increase resiliency to extreme weather events, reduce transmission congestion, and increase access to low-cost energy in the region. In addition, the BSSA project will create construction jobs and provide economic benefits to local areas through tax revenues, it was stated in the letter.
The BSSA project is one of 18 transmission projects recently identified by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), our regional grid operator, as part of the first phase of the multi-year Long-Range Transmission Planning (LRTP) initiative. These LRTP projects are needed to ensure a reliable and resilient transmission system in the future.
Developing and constructing transmission lines takes many years, and we’re currently proposing an in-service date in 2030 or 2031. Otter Tail Power and MRES began coordinating with landowners and residents, local governments, agencies, and other interested stakeholders in spring 2023 and will continue to seek input from stakeholders throughout the development process.
