Oct 30 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - H.J. Cummins Star Tribune, Minneapolis

The latest squall to blow through Minnesota energy developers is a letter to wind projects in the western part of the state -- from the agency that controls the power grid -- saying it would be in their best interests to support a new coal plant in South Dakota.

"I confess to complete puzzlement as to why they're sending this to us," said Brent Olson of Ortonville, a director of Big Stone Wind, a proposed 20-megawatt, community-owned wind farm in Big Stone County, on the South Dakota border.

The Oct. 10 letter covered more than 80 wind projects and came from the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO), the agency that handles the technical analysis of proposed electricity-generating projects, as well as the development of the regional power grid. The letter said many western Minnesota wind proposals are premised on substantial new power lines first being built in Minnesota, as part of a proposed Big Stone II coal plant in South Dakota. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is expected to decide early next year if it will approve the lines, which environmental groups have fought for about four years.

Without the Big Stone II plant, "the costs for replacement transmission would likely be borne by wind projects like yours," the letter said. "Because we believe that you have an interest in assuring" that the plant is built, "you should consider contacting the [plant's] Owners directly and offering your support."

MISO spokesman Carl Dombeck said the agency felt an obligation to advise scores of wind projects how the Big Stone II decision will affect them. The letter did stress that the wind developers' response to its message will not affect their cases before MISO.

But environmentalist Bill Grant objects. "We need to keep in mind these transmission lines are being built to serve a new coal plant, and the fact they may incidentally benefit a couple of wind projects is not the point," Grant said. "Also, MISO certainly knows it can't lobby ... so it seems a little out of bounds to me for them to be contacting others to do it for them -- with the not-so-subtle message that, 'If this line gets built, your chances are a lot better.'"

H.J. Cummins --612-673-4671

Copyright © 2008The McClatchy Company