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PowerOn Midwest

PowerOn Midwest

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

PowerOn Midwest is a series of new electric transmission projects anchored by a 765 kV backbone transmission line being developed by Great River Energy, ITC Midwest, Otter Tail Power Company and Xcel Energy. The projects will connect eastern South Dakota, southern Minnesota and the broader region, enhancing grid reliability in the Upper Midwest to meet growing and evolving energy needs in the coming decades.

PowerOn Midwest is building the backbone for a reliable, flexible, and future-ready electric grid in the Upper Midwest. Our new transmission lines are designed to support all types of electricity generation resources, including existing generation and new wind, solar, natural gas, and other developing technologies like battery storage or hydrogen.

A reliable, future-ready grid benefits all of us. PowerOn Midwest connects areas rich in renewable energy—like wind and solar—with regions that need power, ensuring access to cost effective, reliable, and increasingly carbon-free electricity. This supports local jobs and economic growth by enabling essential industries—like healthcare, manufacturing, and agricultural processing plants—to expand and operate efficiently. The project is expected to generate billions of dollars in economic benefits, attract new investments, and help communities meet clean energy goals, while allowing farming and rural businesses to continue thriving.

The total cost of PowerOn Midwest is still being finalized by the project applicants. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) developed a preliminary cost estimate in early 2024 of approximately $2.5 billion for project work between the Minnesota border and the North Rochester Substation. When including the Big Stone-Brookings project, the investment reaches about $3 billion. That estimate is being refined by the utilities and updated based on engineering and bids from equipment, materials, and labor vendors.

While the investment will be significant, industry analysts project between $7 and $25 billion in economic benefits by 2050 to end-use consumers through improved reliability, expanded access to lower-cost energy, and avoided outage costs to local communities.

PowerOn Midwest is still in the early stages of development, and no final route has been selected. We are at the very beginning of the route development process, which includes multiple phases of public engagement to inform and learn from potentially impacted community members. Throughout this process we will host public open houses to share information, routing options, explain how routes are evaluated, answer questions, and gather community input.

Below is a general timeline highlighting key milestones in the process.

  • 2025 - Project planning, initial stakeholder and initial public engagement
  • 2026-2027 - File PowerOn Midwest Certificate of Need application with the MPUC, Certificate of Need MPUC review process, route development, file Route Permit applications with MPU
  • 2027-2029 - Route Permit MPUC review processes, engineering design, environmental surveys and permitting, easement acquisition
  • 2030-2034 - Ongoing easement acquisition, pre-construction activities, construction, restoration
  • 2032-2034 - Anticipated in-service (individual segment in-service dates will vary)

As we plan, we are focused on gathering information and community feedback before any route decisions are made. This includes a series of public open houses where our team will explain how routing works and discuss preliminary route options. Community feedback plays an important role as potential routes are developed and evaluated over time.

To find out if a preliminary route option is near you, visit our Routes & Maps Page. To find an open house near you, visit our Events Page.

We anticipate including a preferred route in the permit application that we plan to submit to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) in early 2027. The MPUC will determine the final route following their review process, which includes several opportunities for public input and involvement. Their final decision typically takes 12-15 months. We encourage you to stay involved throughout the process so your perspective is heard.

Cost estimates for the project are between $3.3 and $4.3 billion. While electricity rates will be affected, the cost of the project will be shared across the entire MISO North region, which includes Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Missouri.

Because the cost is shared regionally, Minnesota customers will not pay the full cost of the project. As a result, the impact on individual electric bills is expected to be smaller than if the project were paid for locally. Regional cost sharing reflects the fact that the reliability and economic benefits of the project extend across the broader region and helps support a reliable electric system for all who benefit from it.

If the project is approved by state regulators and is built, substations and transmission lines will be owned or co-owned by one or more of the utilities involved with the project. For instance, in the section from Lakefield Junction to Pleasant Valley, ITC Midwest will own and maintain the Lakefield Junction Substation, but Great River Energy and ITC Midwest will co-own the transmission line and Great River Energy will own the Pleasant Valley Substation.