Presidential Permit Paves Way for Minnesota Power’s Great Northern Transmission Line to Deliver Canadian Hydropower to Cus...
November 16 2016 - 3:06PM
Business Wire
Project will reduce carbon emissions and
advance company’s EnergyForward strategy
Minnesota Power's Great Northern Transmission Line received
federal approval today when the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
issued a Presidential Permit, clearing the way for building the
international transmission line to deliver clean energy from
Canada’s extensive hydropower resources to Minnesota while
strengthening reliability of the power grid.
The Presidential Permit is the final major regulatory approval
needed before construction can begin and is required because the
transmission line will cross the international border between
Manitoba and Minnesota and connect with Manitoba Hydro’s
Manitoba-Minnesota Transmission Project. The DOE, the federal
agency responsible for issuing Presidential Permits for electric
transmission lines, issued its Final Environmental Impact Statement
for the project in October 2015. The Presidential Permit approval
is the final step in a four-year process that included
comprehensive agency review and voluntary community engagement by
Minnesota Power, a utility company of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE: ALE).
“I would like to thank Congressman Rick Nolan, Congressman
Collin Peterson, Sen. Al Franken, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and the Red
Lake Nation for their strong support of the project and advocacy to
the DOE,” said ALLETE Chairman, President and CEO Al Hodnik. “These
informed and active partners were key to reaching final federal
approval of this clean energy milestone.”
“The Great Northern Transmission Line is a crucial link in
Minnesota Power’s EnergyForward strategy of balancing renewable and
traditional energy sources. Minnesota Power already has exceeded
Minnesota’s 25 percent renewable standard, and is well-positioned
to meet future decreased carbon emissions goals,” Hodnik said.
“DOE’s issuance of this permit is the latest example of how we’re
answering the nation’s call to transform its energy landscape,
while growing ALLETE. Minnesota Power was forged from renewable
hydropower 110 years ago, and that sustainable ethos lives on in
this project that will deliver hundreds of megawatts of carbon-free
hydropower to our customers.”
Construction is expected to begin in early 2017 on the
500-kilovolt line that will deliver 383 megawatts of renewable
hydropower purchased from Manitoba Hydro to Minnesota Power’s
customers beginning in 2020. The project is a key component of
Minnesota Power's EnergyForward strategy to reduce carbon emissions
and ensure continued reliability and affordable rates while
achieving a balanced energy mix of one-third renewable energy,
one-third natural gas and one-third coal.
“This is an important project for securing the availability of
affordable, renewable electricity in northeastern Minnesota –
especially for residential consumers, as well as our mining,
manufacturing, timber and tourism industries,” said Nolan who
represents Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District. “I am very
pleased the project's final stage of review has crossed over the
finish line, just in time for the winter construction season. The
Great Northern Transmission Line enjoys broad stakeholder support,
including local tribes, and has positive energy security and
environmental implications for northeastern Minnesota, the Nation,
and North America. I especially want to thank Secretary Moniz for
his work and responsiveness to our recent request for a timely
resolution."
The GNTL and its clean energy benefits have been widely
recognized. In June 2016, a White House press release on the North
American Climate, Clean Energy and Environment Partnership that
calls for the U.S., Mexico and Canada to generate 50 percent of
their electricity from renewable resources by 2025, the GNTL was
cited as one of the cross-border transmission projects that will
help achieve that goal.
And in May 2014, the White House pointed out that Minnesota
Power’s early coordination with other agencies and meetings with
tribes, local government units and landowners was key in narrowing
down potential routes for the line.
“Minnesota Power’s early work with landowners, community
members, and tribal and government representatives paved the way to
this permit. Through extensive meetings with stakeholders and open
houses, the project development process led to the best route,”
said Brad Oachs, Minnesota Power chief operating officer. He noted
that Minnesota Power also coordinated with the DOE and the state
Commerce Department in the route development, refinement and
selection process to reach this regulatory milestone.
The Great Northern Transmission Line will optimize and balance
the renewable resources of wind and hydropower by creating synergy
between Minnesota Power’s 500-megawatt wind farm in North Dakota
and Manitoba Hydro’s system of dams and reservoirs in Canada. Under
power purchase agreements between the two companies and approved by
the MPUC, Manitoba Hydro can reduce the flow of water through its
hydro generators when there is excess wind power from Minnesota
Power’s North Dakota wind farm. When winds are light or calm,
Manitoba Hydro can release more water—stored while the wind was
blowing—through its dams and increase its hydropower
production.
The approved 224-mile route will cross the border between the
U.S. and Canada in Roseau County in northern Minnesota, about three
miles east of Minnesota Highway 89. The line will run to an
expanded Blackberry electric substation east of Grand Rapids,
Minnesota. The route passes through Roseau, Lake of the Woods, and
Koochiching and Itasca counties in Minnesota and largely follows
Minnesota Power's preferred route, including the critical
international border crossing.
Minnesota Power estimates the total cost of the project will be
between $560 million and $710 million, with the company’s portion
of the cost estimated between $300-350 million.
More information about the project can be found at
http://www.greatnortherntransmissionline.com/
Minnesota Power provides electric service within a
26,000-square-mile area in Northeastern Minnesota, supporting
comfort, security and quality of life for 145,000 customers, 16
municipalities and some of the largest industrial customers in the
United States. More information can be found at www.mnpower.com.
(ALE-ENRG)
The statements contained in this release, and statements that
ALLETE may make orally in connection with this release that are not
historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Actual results
may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties and investors are directed to the risks discussed in
documents filed by ALLETE with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161116006518/en/
Minnesota Power/ALLETEAmy Rutledge, 218-723-7400Manager -
Corporate Communicationsarutledge@mnpower.com
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