The Public Service Commission has approved a certificate of “public convenience and necessity” for a power line project, to be built by MDU and Otter Tail Power.
The 345 kilovolt transmission line would run from Jamestown to Ellendale. It’s a $440 million project. And it is part of what’s been dubbed as “tranche one” of a $10 billion plan from the Midwest Independent System Operator to increase electrical transmission in the region.
The PSC vote was 2 to one. Commission Chairman Randy Christmann was the no vote.
"I just haven't heard the justification yet," Christmann said.
But Commissioner Julie Fedorchak says this line will have some immediate benefits for North Dakota.
"It creates some beneficial redundancy for Otter Tail and MDU," Fedorchak said. "It helps improve reliability. It relieves some pretty substantial congestion in our grid. It helps provide pathways for our power to get out to those who need it across the MISO region, and that helps our power producers."
This project will cost the average MDU electric customer about 12.3 cents per month, and the average Otter Tail customer about $17.7 cents per month.
