PowerOn Midwest open houses scheduled throughout region

Great River Energy, ITC Midwest and Xcel Energy will soon host open house meetings across the region to discuss new electric transmission projects.

The goal of PowerOn Midwest is to connect eastern South Dakota, southern Minnesota and the broader region, enhancing grid reliability in the Upper Midwest to meet growing electric use and changing energy needs in the coming decades. The series of projects would be anchored by a 765 kV backbone transmission line.

The open houses represent an opportunity to provide landowners, stakeholders and community members with information about the necessity of the project, its timeline and the regulatory process, as well as get feedback.

Among the area open houses planned are:

Tuesday, Aug. 4: 4 to 6 p.m. at St. Leo Catholic Church, 415 S. Hiawatha Ave., Pipestone.

Wednesday, Aug. 5: 10 a.m. to noon at Generations Events, 105 S. Estey St., Luverne; and 4 to 6 p.m. in the Murray County Central gymnasium, 2420 28th St., Slayton.

Thursday, Aug. 6: 10 a.m. to noon at the Worthington Event Center, 1447 Prairie Drive, Worthington, and 4 to 6 p.m. at Fox Lakes Event Center, 730 125th St., Sherburn.

Tuesday, Aug. 11: 10 a.m. to noon in the Jackson County Central High School gymnasium, 1128 N. Highway, Jackson.

There will be no formal presentations at the open houses, and people may come and go as they please.