DULUTH, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Minnesota Power announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
and the Minnesota Department of Commerce (DOC) have issued the Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Great Northern
Transmission Line (GNTL).
The issuance of the FEIS concludes the successful review of the
project's environmental impacts under the National Environmental Policy
Act and clears the way for a route permit decision by the Minnesota
Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) in early 2016. DOE's proposed action
is the issuance of a Presidential Permit that would authorize Minnesota
Power to construct, operate and maintain the Great Northern Transmission
Line, which would cross the Canadian-U.S. international border.
Minnesota Power is a utility division of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE).
The Great Northern Transmission Line will be a 500-kilovolt, 220-mile
line that will run from the Canadian-U.S. border northwest of Roseau,
Minn., to an expanded Blackberry electric substation east of Grand
Rapids, Minn. The international power line will be used to deliver
hydroelectric power purchased from Manitoba Hydro to serve Minnesota
Power's customers and the region. The transmission line is a critical
component of Minnesota Power's EnergyFoward strategy to reduce carbon
emissions and assure continued reliability and affordable rates while
diversifying its energy portfolio to a one-third renewable, one-third
coal and one-third natural gas energy mix. On the Canadian side, on
Sept. 23, 2015, Manitoba Hydro filed its environmental documents and
final preferred route with provincial regulators as part of the process
for securing a license for the transmission line in Manitoba.
The transmission line's FEIS is the result of intensive review and
analysis, an effort launched by the DOE and DOC in July 2014 with
scoping meetings. A draft Environmental Impact Statement was released in
June 2015. Agencies formally cooperating with the DOE and DOC were the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Red
Lake Band of Chippewa Indians and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Great Northern's FEIS is available at http://www.greatnortherneis.org.
"We are extremely satisfied that, after almost two years of
comprehensive agency review and many years of voluntary stakeholder
engagement by Minnesota Power, the Department of Energy and Minnesota
Department of Commerce have released the Final Environmental Impact
Statement," said Minnesota Power Chief Operating Officer Brad Oachs.
"This environmental review process highlighted the involvement and input
Minnesota Power has incorporated into this project from the public and
various levels of government, including a resolution of support from the
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. Release of the FEIS is an important
step as we plan for a sizable new capital investment in Upper Midwest
transmission that carries economic, reliability and renewable energy
benefits."
U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken and U.S. Reps. Collin Peterson
and Rick Nolan, members of Minnesota's congressional delegation, sent a
letter of support for the project to U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest
Moniz where they stated: "we write to express our support for the
successful collaborative public outreach effort by the project sponsor
that was critical to the development of a consensus plan for the
preferred location of the line's international border crossing."
More information about the project is available at www.greatnortherntransmissionline.com.
Minnesota Power provides electric service within a 26,000-square-mile
area in northeastern Minnesota, supporting comfort, security and quality
of life for 144,000 customers, 16 municipalities and some of the largest
industrial customers in the United States. More information can be found
at www.mnpower.com.
ALE-ENRG
The statements contained in this release and statements that ALLETE
may make orally in connection with this release that are not historical
facts, are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ
materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and investors
are directed to the risks discussed in documents filed by ALLETE with
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151102005318/en/
Minnesota Power/ALLETE
Amy Rutledge, 218-723-7400
Manager -
Corporate Communications
arutledge@mnpower.com
Source: Minnesota Power
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