CF Beacon Newspaper Article 2-16-2012

2/16/2012 2:50:00 PM

CapX judge says to go around CF

by Ken Haggerty

Administrative Law Judge Kathleen Sheehy issued her findings on the route permit application for the CapX2020 Hampton-Rochester-LaCrosse high voltage (345 kV) transmission line project last week.

Sheehy's report recommends that the Minnesota Public Utility Commission approve a route that would primarily follow the U.S. Hwy. 52 corridor from Hampton to Zumbrota, except for a diversion around Cannon Falls.

The diversion would leave Hwy. 52 near the intersection of Dakota County 86 and follow Harry Avenue south, cross the Cannon River at the Byllesby Dam, continue straight southward cross country eventually paralleling Stanton Trail before heading east back to Hwy. 52 on a line parallel with 323rd Street.

In the report, Sheehy notes "significant problems" following Hwy. 52 through Cannon Falls related to proximity to homes, churches, schools and businesses as well as possible future Hwy. 52 interchanges and overpasses.

She says the route she recommends around Cannon Falls parallels some existing transmission lines and uses mostly existing road corridors.

Sheehy did not recommend an alternate route suggested by the city of Hampton that would have pushed the route to the eastern edge of the city limits, rather than right along Hwy. 52. She noted the homes in Hampton are mostly on the west side of Hwy. 52 and that the suggested alternate route could disrupt farming operations.

A link to the full report is available at www.capx2020.

Detailed maps are also available at that web site. Hard copy versions of maps are also available at the Cannon Falls library.

Grant Stevenson, Xcel Energy, who has worked on the route permit for the utility, said that the Public Utility Commission will probably consider the permit application and the judge's recommendations within the next sixty days. He says they can still consider all proposed routes, not just the routes preferred by the utilities or recommended by the judge. The PUC will also again take testimony from the public before making a final decision.

The line would use single pole 130 to 180 foot tall towers spaced about 600 to 1,000 feet apart. They would require a right-of-way about 150 feet wide. The project cost for this segment is estimated at $240 million. Stevenson said the CapX group is targeting a 2013 construction date but would start in Rochester and move north, then move to LaCrosse and then phase to the Pine Island to Cannon Falls segment, probably in 2015.

Attorney Carol Overland has coordinated a number of the parties who have opposed the project. Her slogan is "lines that they don't need and we don't want." Her web site is at www.nocapx2020.info and offers commentary on the project.