The Intersection of Federal and State Authority and the
Presidential Permitting Process
Deadline
to Register: Monday, November 14,
2016
Minnesota Power is building the Great Northern Transmission
Line (GNTL) to bring clean, emission-free energy into Minnesota, meet growing
energy demands and increase system reliability. The Great Northern Transmission
Line, which will deliver hydropower generated by Manitoba Hydro to customers in
the United States, will consist of a 224-mile, 500 kV transmission line from the
Minnesota-Manitoba border to the Blackberry 500
kV Substation near Grand Rapids, Minnesota, as well as associated substation facilities and transmission
system modifications. Because it crosses an international border
a Presidential permit from the United States Department of Energy
(DOE) is required. This presentation will address the Presidential
permit process, federal interactions with the state of Minnesota environmental review and MPUC
Certificate of Need and Route Permit requirements, and the permitting processes in Canada. The new
DOE Final Rule for the Integrated Interagency Pre-Application (IIP) Process
issued on September 21, 2016 will be discussed. In releasing the
new rule, DOE highlighted GNTL as example for federal interagency cooperation
and stated Minnesota Power’s preapplication work with DOE coordination “gave us a
glimpse of the rule’s potential.”
*This
presentation will not address matters pending in any open dockets before the
Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
Please
join us for lunch beginning at Noon, followed by the program from 12:30 – 1:30
p.m.
Box
lunch will be provided. Special
meal requests need to be received no later than Monday, November 14.
Presenter:
David Moeller joined
Minnesota Power in Duluth, Minnesota as an attorney in 2005. At Minnesota Power,
David handles regulatory matters before the Minnesota Public Utilities
Commission, the North Dakota Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission related to transmission, renewable energy,
emission-reduction projects, resource planning, conservation, and rate
reviews. David is project counsel for the Great Northern Transmission
Line, a proposed international 500 kV transmission line between Manitoba and
Minnesota with responsibilities for all federal and state regulatory approvals,
power purchase agreements and development arrangements. Prior to joining
Minnesota Power, David was a staff attorney at Farmers' Legal Action Group. He
is a board member of the Minnesota Supreme Court’s Legal Services Advisory
Committee (LSAC) and St. Louis River Quest. David is a graduate of the
University of Minnesota Law School and Macalester College. David grew up
on a family farm
near Hardwick, Minnesota, in southwest Minnesota.