In southwest Minnesota, multiple companies are hosting open house meetings to bring information to the public about a series of energy projects.
Three companies, Great River Energy, ITC Midwest and Xcel Energy, have joined forces to create a series of projects called PowerOn Midwest.
They hope to bring more power lines to the southwest corner and connect to South Dakota and Iowa. Otter Tail Power Company is working alongside Xcel Energy on new lines in the Brookings area that will connect to the proposed Minnesota system.
The group said that new transmission lines will help meet the demand for more energy in that corner of the state. Despite the project’s intent, there are some critics.
The energy companies recognize the connection to data centers…
Data centers are a topic of interest in recent years, with differing opinions and many proposed projects across the country. In a fact sheet put together by PowerOn Midwest, the companies state that the study they conducted did not include data center power usage in the equation despite the “overlap between data center proposals and the PowerOn Midwest projects.” They stated that if large energy users like data centers choose to join the grid, more studies will need to be done.
Hallstrom doesn’t buy the messaging being put out by PowerOn Midwest.
“Of course it would be connected [to data center projects],” argued Hallstrom. “You wouldn’t put that massive amount of infrastructure in without thinking about what else is going to happen, and with data centers so under discussion, there’s no way they’re not connected or wouldn’t be in the future. People need to look at this. They’re going to have more hearings and meetings, and they need to stay on top of it.”