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Friday, September 03, 2010
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| | Email this article • Print this article | High voltage power line headed for Hwy. 52?
by Ken Haggerty
With the Hampton to Zumbrota segment of a proposed new 345 kilovolt transmission line narrowed down to just two corridors, it appears likely that the east side of Highway 52 will end up as the preferred route when a formal route permit is filed this fall.
Conversations gathered at a public scoping meeting open house hosted by the USDA's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) in Wanamingo on June 17 indicate that while a route working southward well to the west of Highway 56, west of Randolph and then well to the north of Highway 60 over to Zumbrota is still under consideration, the proposed route that would follow an existing right of way right along 52 is the more probable.
CapX2020, a consortium of 11 electric utilities led by Xcel, is proposing a new set of transmission lines from South Dakota to a new substation in Hampton and then south to the Rochester area and LaCrosse. The high voltage lines would be hung from 170 foot single-pole steel towers spaced about 1,000 feet apart.
Greg Soule, a Twin Cities attorney who lives in Dennison, has tracked the planning process for the lines in the Cannon Falls area closely. Soule calls the choice for the Highway 52 route "such a big duh." Soule said that route is about 17 miles shorter at over $1 million per mile and uses an existing right of way along an established major thoroughfare.
Stephanie Strength, Environmental Protection Specialist, is the RUS contact for anyone wishing to have concerns on the project addressed in an environmental impact statement. Strength is at 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Stop 1571, Washington, DC 20250-1571. She also can be reached at 202-720-0468 or stephanie.strength @usda.gov. The deadline for comments is June 29.
The need for the entire project and the process being used to permit it is also being challenged by the Citizens Energy Task Force. A complete listing of their objections is available at www.cetf.us. Detailed maps of the proposed routes are at www.capx2020.com.
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