Brookings Second Circuit

Proposal will add a second transmission circuit to existing infrastructure to open up access for low-cost renewable energy as well as efficient delivery of energy.

Current Status:

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved the project’s Certificate of Need and Minor Alteration Route Permit on May 16. Xcel Energy is beginning to prepare for construction and installation of the second circuit, which will reduce transmission system congestion, enable more renewable energy that can be delivered to customers, saving them millions of dollars each year.

Construction Schedule:

Project construction will begin in South Dakota near the Brookings Substation outside of White, SD. Using a combination of helicopters and ground-based equipment, the second high-voltage wire will be
installed on the existing transmission structures between the Brookings Substation and Lyon County Substation near Marshall. This work will occur between late May and Fall 2024.

In spring 2025 work will shift to the eastern segment between the Helena Substation in Scott County and the Hampton Substation in Dakota County. This work will also be completed using a combination of helicopter and ground-based equipment.

Project Description:

In the early 2010s, the CapX2020 utilities built the Brookings County-Hampton 345-kV project to improve electric reliability in the region and increase access to renewable energy. At the same time, some of the structures on the east and west portions of the project were built as ‘double-circuit capable’ meaning the wires delivering electricity were only installed on one side of the single-pole tower. This was done to meet the region’s energy needs at the time, in anticipation those needs would change and grow in the future. That time has arrived. 

Xcel Energy is proposing to add the second transmission circuit to those existing structures between the Brookings Substation near White, South Dakota, and the Lyon County Substation near Marshall, Minn. The second segment would add the second circuit between the Helena Substation in Scott County, Minn., and the Hampton Substation in Dakota County, Minn.

If approved, the project will begin construction on the western segment in mid-2024 and the eastern segment in 2025.