Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 13, September 23, 2024
Subpart
1.
Securing input of the public and local and tribal
governments.
Jointly or individually, utilities shall seek the assistance
and input of local government officials, tribal government officials, and
interested members of the public in identifying transmission inadequacies and
alternative means of addressing them. To help secure this assistance and input,
each utility shall hold transmission planning meetings as follows:
A. at least one transmission planning meeting
each year in each transmission planning zone in which the utility intends to
propose a high-voltage transmission line within the next five years;
and
B. at least two transmission
planning meetings in each affected transmission planning zone in the year in
which it files for certification of a proposed high-voltage transmission line.
Utilities may fulfill this obligation by holding joint
transmission planning meetings. Transmission planning meetings must be open to
the public.
Subp.
2.
Issues to address in transmission planning
meetings.
At transmission planning meetings the utilities shall:
A. answer questions;
B. seek information on local transmission
needs and related energy needs;
C.
seek input on transmission inadequacies they have identified and input on
different ways to address these identified transmission inadequacies;
D. present an overview of:
(1) the Minnesota transmission
system;
(2) any inadequacies in the
Minnesota transmission system that the utility believes must be addressed
within the next ten years and alternative ways, including nontransmission
alternatives, to address these inadequacies; and
(3) the factors that influence transmission
needs in the transmission zone, the state, and adjacent states;
E. provide a description of any
high-voltage transmission line under serious consideration for construction
within the transmission zone in the next five years;
F. provide a general description of each
line's probable social, environmental, and economic effects and an account of
all alternatives considered;
G.
present information on the best routing information available;
H. provide a description of general
right-of-way requirements for a line of the size and voltage proposed and a
statement that the utility intends to acquire property rights for the
right-of-way that the proposed line will require; and
I. present a brief description of the
regulatory approval processes to which each line is subject.
