Rochester area homeowners weigh in on new route maps for transmission power lines

ROCHESTER — Area homeowners roamed the hall and gathered around maps and computers, studying squiggly lines that depicted possible electricity transmission line routes around Rochester. The conversations were earnest. Power company officials mingled among them, ready to answer questions.

Specifically, these people were here to learn whether the proposed lines would skirt their property or, even worse, run through it. There were opportunities to offer comments and feedback as well on where they believed those transmission lines should go — preferably away from them.

Excel Energy and Dairyland Power Cooperative are in the midst of a massive upgrade of the area power grid to handle surging energy demand. To grow the economy, to feed the explosion of data centers and artificial intelligence, to power electric vehicles: More power will be needed. To say nothing of our expectation to turn on a light switch and light up one’s home at a reasonable cost.

To do that requires a beefier, zippier power grid. To create such an entity in this neck of the woods, a $1.2 billion project called the Gopher to Badger Link is on the drawing board. It involves installing 35 miles of new, higher voltage, “superhighway” transmission structures. It comes in two parts: a new transmission line that runs from north Rochester to Marion, and another from Marion to the Mississippi River on the Wisconsin border.

Last week, new maps were released that reflected a narrowing and refining of possible routes around Rochester based on months of community feedback. Now, open houses are being held to get feedback on these new maps. Such an event was held at Floral Hall in Graham Park on Tuesday, May 5.

Contributed / Gopher to Badger L

Environmentalists were able to celebrate one adjustment to the new maps. Power companies removed from consideration a line called the L Link. The line, which would have run north-south through a state game refuge and a wildlife area east of Rochester, raised alarms among bird-watchers, pheasant hunters and environmentalists. Most of the comments from the community were focused on the L Link, an Xcel official said.

Another consideration: The area east of Rochester is an expected growth area. And a line running through there would have been a hindrance to the city’s expansion.

“That’s one of Rochester’s growth areas. So we want to enable growth, not impede it,” said Xcel spokesman Randy Fordice. “We heard from the city of Rochester. We heard from a lot of landowners.”

Gopher to Badger is one of 18 projects managed by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, an independent grid operator, and being built across the Midwest. The investments are motivated by one overriding factor: Growth in energy demand is expected to soar. The U.S. is projected to see 1% annual growth rate for the next two decades. Without significant upgrades to the transmission’s backbone, it will exceed the system’s ability to manage.

The way energy is delivered these days has changed significantly. Gone — or nearly gone — are the quaint days when a single power plant served a metropolitan area. Coal plants are being phased out; renewable energy like wind and solar backed up by natural gas are en vogue.

That diversified mix reinforces the need for a slicker, more integrated system. Energy’s backroads are being transformed into a superhighway, so power can be generated in one region of the country and delivered to another.

Yet, such upgrades require a sensitivity to community and homeowners’ concerns about where such transmission lines are being built. Hence, the process overseen by power companies involves multiple occasions for community input.

One Rochester-area homeowner breathed a sigh of relief that the proposed lines wouldn’t run near his property. He had gotten a brochure in the mail, but it didn’t contain any roads. A smaller line running through his property had required him to sign an easement. He was happy to see from the maps that another, bigger line wasn’t coming nearby.

“It’s got to run somewhere, but I’m glad it’s not running along our property,” he said, declining to give his name.

David Lowe was pleased that the L Link segment had been removed from consideration by Xcel for both personal and environmental reasons. But his concerns were far from allayed. A physician at Olmsted Medical Center, Lowe owns 80 acres east of Rochester that contains an expanse of native prairie.

The L Link segment, if it had gone through, would have run down the west side of his property. But another segment, called the “K Link,” is still in contention and would run along the north end.

He hopes Xcel moves that line farther north. His hope is that Xcel officials will be sensitive to the same argument that was made to shelve the L Link; that it would hinder growth east of Rochester.

“We’re closest to Rochester. So as far as development is concerned, we’re still within a potential Rochester development,” Lowe said.

When the current round of open houses concludes, a final map will likely not be settled upon until the summer. In the fall, Xcel will file a route permit application, which kicks off a state review and more public meetings.

Once a final decision is made, likely in late 2027 or early 2028, work will begin on designing and engineering the project, negotiating with landowners and other project milestones. Construction will begin in late 2030 or early 2031 with an in-service date of 2034.

“It’s a big project,” Fordice said.