150-mile power line to connect substation near Fargo to northeast South Dakota

FARGO — Energy companies plan to build a 150-mile power line that stretches from northwest of Fargo into South Dakota.

Otter Tail Power Co. and Xcel Energy introduced on Monday, July 6, their Big Stone South to Hankinson (North Dakota) to Bison transmission line to the Cass County Commission. The 345-kilovolt line will run from the Bison Substation about 15 miles northwest of Fargo, or 5 miles north of Mapleton, North Dakota, to the Hankinson Substation to the Big Stone South Substation about 60 miles northeast of Watertown, South Dakota, said Craig Steingaard, senior transmission project developer at Otter Tail.

The line will be made of single-circuit, self-supporting monopoles between 120 and 160 feet tall, spanning 700 to 1,200 feet between each other, Steingaard said. The right-of-way is expected to be 150 feet, he said.

The companies are in the process of determining the final route and seeking permits for the project, Steingaard said. Construction is slated to begin in mid-2030, with operation beginning in late 2033.

Otter Tail and Xcel are studying a corridor west of Fargo and along Interstate 29, according to a slideshow presented by Steingaard. The line will go through Cass and Richland counties in North Dakota and Grant and Roberts counties in South Dakota, Steingaard said.

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and North Dakota Public Service Commission need to approve the projects. Otter Tail and Xcel also need to get building permits from the counties they cross.

The project is one of five high-priority projects in what is called the Joint Targeted Interconnection Queue, according to Otter Tail. The project seeks to “optimize interconnection” along the seam of the Southwest Power Pool and Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Otter Tail said.

SPP covers a region that includes north Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and parts of South Dakota and North Dakota. MISO also covers parts of North Dakota and covers much of the Midwest, including Minnesota and Iowa.

“It (the transmission line) helps relieve pressure on transmission lines that are currently overloaded,” Otter Tail spokeswoman Stephanie Hoff told The Forum. “Overall, it strengthens the electric system across the region, making it more reliable and better able to recover during emergencies or high-demand situations today and into the future.”

Xcel and Otter Tail have held open houses this year to gather input from the public. It also has reached out to landowners to assist in narrowing down the potential corridor, Steingaard said.

It’s unclear how much the project will cost or how many jobs it will create.

Otter Tail is also involved in a

160-mile power line

from near Fargo across the Red River into central Minnesota. That project is expected to begin in 2029 and could be operational in 2033, according to Otter Tail.

That line is in partnership with Great River Energy and Minnesota Power.