To meet the future energy needs of its customers and state-mandated environmental and renewable goals, Minnesota Power has announced its intention to file a request with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) before the end of the year to increase base electric retail rates.
Minnesota Power, an ALLETE company, previously filed for a rate increase in May 2008. Final rates for the 2008 rate request are expected to take effect in the fall.
Ongoing investments to build the company's renewable energy portfolio to satisfy Minnesota's 25% by 2025 mandate include the acquisition of an approximately $80 million direct current (DC) transmission line that will deliver wind energy from the company's growing number of wind generation facilities in North Dakota to the company's customers in Minnesota.
‘Wind generation facilities are being built all around the country, but it will take thousands of miles of new transmission lines to bring this renewable energy to customers who need it,’ says Don Shippar, CEO of ALETTE. ‘That's why the DC line project is such a strategic fit. Utilizing an existing line will cost significantly less than building a new line.’
More details about Minnesota Power's rate request, including public hearing dates, will be made available once the request is filed with the MPUC later this year. If approved by the commission, interim rates would go into effect in early 2010, with final rates being implemented in the fourth quarter of 2010.
SOURCE: Minnesota Power
