The Fillmore County Journal reports…
A town hall meeting hosted by NO765MN on October 21 at the Preston Riverfront Center drew a full house.
Concerned citizens gathered to learn more about the proposed 765 kV transmission line. The transmission line is to extend from the South Dakota border and run all across the southern edge of Minnesota to Wisconsin. The proposal includes a 139-mile electric transmission line (the proposed Gopher-Badger Link) extending from the North Rochester Substation near Pine Island through Marion area to Bell Center, Wisconsin. Opponents believe this transmission line is being planned to power a proposed Google data center near Pine Island. The Gopher to Badger Link includes the Minnesota segment of the Maribell transmission line.
Xcel Energy and Dairyland Power maintain this 765 kV transmission line is part of a regional transmission plan developed through the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and it will strengthen the regional grid.
Some details on the line in and around Fillmore and Houston Counties…
Charlie Wray, John Pugleasa, and Kyle Johnson are members of NO765MN, which is a coalition of Minnesota farmers, landowners, municipalities, residents, and local governments who stand against the proposed transmission lines.
Wray explained the proposed 765 kV line passes through Minnesota, but it will not provide power for a single home in the area. The 765kV line will be carrying power from the west to the east. The current 161kV line will be replaced with a double-circuit 765/161 kV line. The 765kV will be the most voltage proposed in the upper Midwest.
This line will require 250 foot right of ways. The 150- to 200-foot steel lattice towers will be installed every 1,000-1,500 feet, marring the landscape. Current 161 kV poles are only 70 feet tall. To support these towers, concrete piers as much as 50 feet deep will be drilled deep into the land to anchor the towers.
Pugleasa, a former public health director, said the proposed line will go across his property. He is bothered by the unanswered questions about the effect the lattice towers and deep concrete piers will have on karst geology including the effect on water tables and trout streams. There clearly will be some effect, towers installed in unstable bedrock might be a terrible idea.
In Fillmore and Houston Counties the proposed route will pass near Caledonia, Eitzen, Spring Grove, Canton, Mabel and Harmony.
Landowners have been asked to sign easements but have been kept in the dark as to the purpose.
Kyle Johnson, Houston County farm and forestry business, said this needs to be stopped with the “certificate of need.” They don’t need this. The demand for power in Minnesota peaked in 2006. Demand for power is declining.