concerned Winona residents discuss CapX2020

Posted on | December 12, 2008 |

The Winona Post published an excellent review of the forum of concerned residents that gathered Monday evening in Winona at Capx2020 open house.

WINONA POST
Conserve power, says BLEW, others (12/10/2008)
By Sarah Elmquist

Opponents to proposed new high-voltage, 345-kilovolt transmission lines which could cross the Mississippi in Winona rallied Monday night at an open house against the project.

One of the new lines would run from the southeast Twin Cities to La Crosse following a route that would cross the Mississippi in either Winona, Alma or La Crescent.

CapX2020, a group of 11 energy companies in Minnesota, held an open house on the project Monday night, a required step for the routing of the lines for Minnesota and Wisconsin permits. Public scoping meetings are expected in February, with public hearings set for early 2009.

CapX2020 spokesperson Tim Carlsgaard said that the lines would be used to carry power from new wind projects and to help meet state mandates for renewable energy. But opponents at Monday’s meeting said that there was no guarantee the power grid wouldn’t haul coal-generated power to more urban areas on the dime of energy rate-payers in Minnesota.

And discussions, which turned into a roundtable debate, included claims from members of Bluff Land Environment Watch (BLEW) and others that the lines simply weren’t needed.

“The best solution is conservation,” said local wildlife enthusiast Richie Swanson. He said that migratory bird populations would be threatened at transmission river crossings and advocated incentives for using less energy. He said that taller towers would simply exacerbate the dangers birds and other wildlife face along the Mississippi. “We live in a world where wildlife is already getting hammered on the river,” he said, rattling off a list of species seeing huge declines in numbers.

BLEW member Joe Morse cited an Xcel CEO who indicated that home energy use had fallen three percent in the last several months. “People are using less energy,” said Morse. “We don’t think that [the transmission lines] are necessary.”

Other locals opposed to the project agreed, denying that they were “part of the problem” of energy consumption, as Carlsgaard claimed.

One man said that he lives in an underground home and uses $8 in gas a month. Others rebuffed the idea that their lifestyles were a source of high energy consumption. “These are the conservationists,” said Swanson. “These are the people you want to work with, not to blow off as if conservation weren’t possible.”

Some questioned who would pay for the estimated $2 billion project and who would profit. Carlsgaard said that the Public Utilities Commission must decide how the project would be paid for.

But some questioned the wisdom in erecting the lines at all, stating that the future would lie in decentralized power generated and distributed in small, local systems through wind and other renewable sources. “Now is the most terrible time to invest $2 billion into antiquated technology,” said one attendee, adding that this decentralized power concept might be bad for Xcel and other companies, but would be the sustainable way of the future.

Morse said that new technology would also change the way that people use power, citing a “Smart Grid” program being tested in Boulder, Colo., which shows users when power is more available and inexpensive so they can choose when to use.

Carlsgaard said that energy companies had invested $100 million in that project, and while it may be used elsewhere in time, it would not curb the need for new transmission lines, which haven’t been upgraded in 25 years.

“The truth is this: people are not using less [power] overall,” said Carlsgaard. He said that while conservation is a good step, it wasn’t going to solve the demand for more power in places like Dakota and Scott counties, where populations have exploded 250 percent since the last upgrade. “Everybody talks about conservation, but in reality, they’re not doing it,” he said.

“But faced with that problem, none of us is profiting from that foolishness,” said Tyler Reinhardt. “That’s why we’re here.”

The process for approval is expected to move forward in early 2009 when the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is expected to make a decision on a certificate of need for the project.

To view maps for the proposed new transmission lines or to comment on the project, visit www.capx2020.com.

Copyright © 2008, Winona Post, All Rights Reserved.

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