Nearly a dozen Upper Midwest utilities will study what upgrades the regional transmission grid may need to meet carbon reduction goals established by utilities or policymakers.
Utilities involved in the CapX2020 initiative said Aug. 19 that the CapX2050 Transmission Vision Study will look at maintaining a safe, reliable and cost-effective electric grid as the system adds more carbon-free energy. The study, set to be done in January 2020, comes as policymakers and utilities have set ambitious goals to cut carbon emissions by 2050.
For instance, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers recently set a goal to have all electricity consumed within the state be 100% carbon-free by 2050. And CapX2020 member Xcel Energy Inc. has targeted the complete decarbonization of its power supply portfolio by midcentury.
Other utilities have specific plans to add more renewables to the system in the coming years. Another CapX2020 member, Great River Energy, has a goal to provide its member-owner cooperatives with 50% renewable energy by 2030.
CapX2020 is a joint initiative of 10 transmission-owning utilities in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin to upgrade and expand the regional electric transmission grid. Under that initiative, the utilities invested about $2 billion on 800 miles of new transmission infrastructure, including four 345-kV lines and a 230-kV line. The last line of the effort was completed in 2017.
The CapX2050 study will help the CapX2020 member utilities better understand regional transmission needs to ensure grid reliability, flexibility and low-cost electricity, the utilities said in a news release announcing the effort. It also will provide valuable data for sharing with policymakers, regulators and the public while providing the opportunity for stakeholder input, they added.
According to the release, the CapX2020 utilities "believe an emphasis on holistic long-term planning will ensure a successful transition to a clean energy future as the Upper Midwest generation fleet transitions to use higher levels of carbon-free generation, distributed generation and new energy storage technologies."
Along with Xcel Energy and Great River Energy, Central Municipal Power Agency/Services, Dairyland Power Cooperative, Minnesota Power Inc., Missouri River Energy Services, Otter Tail Power Co., Rochester Public Utilities, Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency and WPPI Energy are CapX2020 members.
