NORTH DAKOTA – The North Dakota Public Service Commission is trying to stop a regional transmission organization from forcing the state to cover a portion of renewable energy projects that are not even required in the state.
PSC Chairman Randy Christmann says MISO, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator that manages states in the central U.S., is building new transmission lines to hook up more wind power sites.
Christmann says the PSC has filed a legal challenge to prevent North Dakota from covering a share of two dozen projects at a total cost of $22 billion dollars.
Listen: North Dakota PSC Chairman Randy Christmann
“I don’t want North Dakotans to have to pay for mandates that Minnesota’s legislature or some of the other states have dreamed up,” Christmann told The Flag this week.
“We don’t have that kind of a mandate or object so we ought not be paying for it.”
Christmann argues that the projects should be assigned to the beneficiaries, meaning the states that have set their own deadlines to establish more renewable energy sources.
“Some wind in the system is important,” said Christmann. “But I’m not seeing a strong need to build a bunch of transmission lines at more than $2 million per mile to hook up a lot more wind farms.”
Christmann says MISO’s purpose is to share the load in case other utilities within the region lose power.
But Christmann believes the focus should lie elsewhere in terms of how to provide that energy.
“What we need is the baseload capacity so when it’s not windy, we can meet our needs,” said Christmann.
The legal complaint was filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
MISO has said they are currently reviewing the filing.
