Notices, Press releases and meetings

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Public Notice: Notice of Public Hearing, SWTC Chaska Area HVTL Route Permit: A Public Hearing will be held on Xcel Energy's proposed SWTC Chaska Area HVTL project on May 2, 2013, 6:00 pm at the Chaska City Hall | Notice details
Notice of Public Hearing for the Scott County-Westgate 115 kV Transmission Upgrade Project: The Commission has scheduled a Public Hearing on May 16, 2013, in Chanhassan on the Certificate of Need and Route Permit Applications for this Project; a public comment period is open through May 31, 2013 | Notice details
Notice of Environmental Assessment - SWTC Chaska Area 115 kV HVTL Project: PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Energy Facility Permitting announces the release of the environmental assessment (EA) for the proposed SWTC Chaska Area 115 kV transmission line | Notice details

Notice of energy facility permitting milestones and opportunities for participation, e.g., meetings and hearings, are sent to citizens who sign up to be on the project mailing list. Notices are sent via regular U.S. mail; thus, when you sign up for a mailing list, please enter your full and correct mailing address.

Project Mailing Lists. Persons who sign up for a project mailing list receive all notices for that project. You can sign up for a project mailing list in three ways:

By signing up on the project docket page (click on the tab above describing the type of energy facility (e.g., transmission line), click on the project, then click on "Mailing List"),
By creating an account (below) and then using your user profile to subscribe to a project list, or
By contacting the state permit manager or public advisor for the project (these folks are listed on the project docket page).

General Contact List. Persons who sign up for the general contact list receive a notice when an application for an energy facility is submitted to the Commission. This list covers projects statewide. Additionally, this list receives only an initial notice and no subsequent notices; to get subsequent notices for a project, you must sign up for the appropriate project mailing list.

If you've never been on a mailing list for an energy facility, you'll need to register and establish an account. If you've already established an account you can sign on and proceed to sign up for the mailings list(s) that you're interested in.

Register (if you have never established an account) Or
Sign on (if you already have established an account for other mailing lists)

eDockets and Electronic Subscriptions. All documents and proceedings of a permitting process are collected in an electronic docket (eDocket). You can subscribe to a docket such that you receive an email every time a submission to the docket is made. Thus, you can receive notice of permitting milestones and opportunities for participation by email if you subscribe. However, subscribers receive all docket submissions and this can be a lot of email. You can subscribe to an electronic docket here.

Public comments on proposed energy facilities can be submitted in a variety of ways - including submitting a comment here.

There are currently no projects accepting environmental review comments. To ensure that you are notified when a public comment period is open, consider using one of the other public participation tools (above) to track projects relevant to your community and interests. When a project opens for comment, a link will appear here.

If you believe there is an open project comment period, it may be that comments are being directed to another agency, e.g. an administrative law judge from the Office of Administrative Hearings. Please check the applicable notice for the appropriate place to send comments.

To assist the public in tracking projects, we offer RSS feeds by project and county. RSS 'pushes' information on projects to you so that you do not have to continually return to project pages to check for updates. More about RSS feeds.

By project: On each project docket page, you may click on the RSS icon, , to subscribe to the project feed. You will receive notice in your RSS reader whenever a new document is added to that project's file register.
By county: Simply select the county you are interested in and you will be subscribed to all the documents relevant to that location:

CountyCounty
County to be subscribed to via RSS. Field name: County
Display name: County
Description: County to be subscribed to via RSS.

Citizens can follow energy facility permitting milestones and meetings on Twitter. The Minnesota Department of Commerce sends out a couple of tweets each day on a range of topics, including environmental review of proposed energy facilities. We won't over-tweet, usually only a few a day. We will not tweet on weekends or Holidays except in emergencies. The Department's Twitter handle is @MNCommerce. To follow us, click on the button below or follow this link.

Open Projects

The following projects or currently going through the regulatory process and are listed from most to least recently filed. To review the full list or to search and / or limit open and closed projects, please see our docket database.

Open projects

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Deer River Transmission Project: Minnesota Power proposes to construct approximately one mile of new 115 kV transmission line, approximately 0.3 miles of new 230 kV transmission line, and a replacement substation east of the city of Deer River in Itasca County. The Deer River Transmission Project would also rebuild approximately 0.9 miles of an existing 115 kV transmission line, and remove approximately 7.5 miles of existing 115 kV transmission line.(Project docket)
Stoneray 105 MW Wind Farm: EDF Renewable Energy is applying for an LWECS permit in Pipestone and Murray counties through its Stoneray Power Partners, LLC subsidiary.(Project docket)
ITC Midwest Minnesota to Iowa 345 kV Transmission Line Project: ITC Midwest, LLC (ITCM) proposes to construct a new 345 kV transmission line in Jackson, Martin, and Faribault County; to reroute several existing 161 kV lines; and to construct a new substation near the cities of Winnebago and Blue Earth. .(Project docket)
Kohlman Lake to Goose Lake 115 kV Transmission Line Project: Xcel Energy proposes to replace an existing 115 kV transmission line with a new, double circuit 115 kV transmission line and to modify two existing substations in northeast Ramsey County.(Project docket)
Elko, New Market and Cleary Areas 115 kV Transmission Upgrade: Great River Energy proposes to rebuild a portion of the existing 69 kV transmission system and construct a new double-circuit 115 kV transmission line in Scott and Rice counties.(Project docket)

More projects

Resources

Resources for citizens, agencies, and prospective permit applicants.

Fact Sheets
Studies
Maps
Guidance for Applicants

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USFWS Midwest Region - Bald and Golden Eagle Permits: A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) fact sheet describing permit processes for eagle take permits. The fact sheet provides links to an interactive USFWS website, April 30, 2012. () | Bulletin details
Rights-of-Way and Easements for Energy Facility Construction and Operation: This fact sheet provides information for landowners who may be affected by the construction of energy facilities in Minnesota. The fact sheet explains how utilities obtain rights-of-way for new energy facilities and informs landowners of their rights in negotiating right-of-way agreements, June 3, 2011. (128.16K, .pdf) | Bulletin details

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International Wind Energy Policies: An international review of policies and recommendations for wind turbine setbacks from residences, April 27, 2012. () | Report details
Summary of Wind Energy Policies by Country: A summary table of policies and recommendations for wind turbine setbacks from residences, April 27, 2012. () | Report details
Post-Construction Monitoring of Wind Projects: Data Gaps and Recommendations for Further Research in Minnesota: Report summarizing avian impacts of wind projects, identifying data gaps, and recommending further research on impacts to birds and bats in Minnesota, December 21, 2010. (2.56 M, .pdf) | Publication details

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Wind Turbines in Minnesota: A map of existing and potential wind turbines in Minnesota as of July 2012, July 20, 2012. () | Map details
Minnesota's Electric Transmission Lines and Substations: A map of Minnesota's transmission lines and substations, 60 kilovolts (kV) and greater, 2008, March 5, 2012. () | Map details

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Energy Production Annual Report, EXAMPLES, Excel spreadsheet V1 10232012: This Excel spreadsheet contains examples for completing the annual energy production report required by the Large Wind Energy Conversion System (LWECS) permit issued by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The spreadsheets were developed by Minnesota Dept. of Commerce Energy Facility Permitting staff and contain the information needed in order to make a recommendation to the PUC. A blank version of the spreadsheets is available separately, November 6, 2012. (37.33K, .xlsx) | Guide details
Energy Production Annual Report Excel spreadsheet, BLANK, V1 10232012: This set of blank Excel spreadsheets provide a standardized format for the annual energy production report required by Large Wind Energy Conversion System (LWECS) permits issued by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). These spreadsheets were developed by Minnesota Dept. of Commerce Energy Facility Permitting staff and contain the information needed in order to make a recommendation to the PUC, November 6, 2012. (36.25K, .xlsx) | Guide details
Oct 2012 Guidance for Large Wind Energy Conversion System Noise Study Protocol and Report: This guidance, developed by Minnesota Department of Commerce Energy Facility Permitting staff, in coordination with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, describes the sound monitoring methodologies, analysis and presentation for the LWECS noise study protocol and report, October 12, 2012. (429.9K, .pdf) | Guide details
Oct 2012 Guidance for Large Wind Energy Conversion System Pre-Construction Compliance, 10052012: This document, prepared by Minnesota Department of Commerce Energy Facilities Permitting staff, contains guidance for the preparation and e-filing of LWECS pre-construction compliance submittals to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, October 8, 2012. (2.35 M, .pdf) | Guide details
Plan and Profile Guidance for Transmission Lines, June 2012: Guidance for the development of Plan and Profile and route change request submittals to the Public Utilities Commission, June 14, 2012. (3.27 M, .pdf) | Guide details
Conventions for e-Filing Energy Facility Permit Compliance Filings, Route Examples: Use when filing route energy facility permit compliance filings on Dept. of Commerce e-Dockets web page, June 14, 2012. (96.46K, .pdf) | Guide details
Compliance e-Filing Conventions, Wind Examples: Using consistent terms to make it easier to find documents and search in e-Dockets, June 14, 2012. (90.66K, .pdf) | Guide details
Application Guidance for Site Permitting of Large Wind Energy Conversion Systems (LWECS) in Minnesota: The guidance for site permitting provides applicants and preparers of LWECS applications with information on how to prepare a complete site permit application, including information on the permitting process, pre-application consultation, and how to submit an application. , August 5, 2010. () | Guide details

Older Resources and Publications:
Power plants | Pipelines | Wind power | Nuclear power | Transmission Lines

Public Participation

Notices, Press releases and meetings

Open Projects

Open projects

Resources