Meets 1st and 3rd Tuesday, 9:00 AM — courthouse, Clear Lake
A special joint meeting of the Zoning & Planning Commission and the County Commission on Monday 10 August takes up the 765 kV powerline.
Coming up
Public hearing
Special joint meeting — 765 kV powerline
Monday, August 10, 2026 · 6:30 p.m.
Courthouse, 2nd Floor Commission Room, Clear Lake
Deuel County Zoning & Planning Commission special meeting, held jointly with the Deuel County Commission. Item #4 on the agenda is the 765 kV powerline.
You can do both on the 10th. Milbank to Clear Lake is about half an hour — Grant at four, Deuel at half past six.
What the line is
Xcel Energy and Otter Tail Power’s “PowerOn Midwest – South Dakota,” under MISO Tranche 1 and 2.1 — a 765 kV line from the Big Stone plant south to Brookings and east into southern Minnesota. Structures 150 to 175 ft tall and 140 to 150 ft wide, on a 250 ft right-of-way. Construction projected 2030 to 2034. It needs South Dakota PUC approval as well as county approvals.
Deuel has already raised the question
County minutes from 20 January 2026 record “queued natural generation requests in Deuel County totaling 1586 MW.” The same agenda carried “Moratorium on Incoming 765KV Transmission Lines.”
Residents asked in January and are still asking
The 6 January minutes list questions on route, light pollution, land prices, blackout risk, health, and “Why hasn’t there been a better system to notify residents?”
RURAL (Residents United for Rural and Agricultural Land) - Community meeting on ordinances
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Goodwin Community Center, 141 Chicago Ave, Goodwin, SD 57238
RURAL (Residents United for Rural and Agricultural Land) Is seeking Public input on proposed Deuel County zoning ordinance changes on industrial development
Determine what your concerns are, do some research, come with ideas!
RURAL (Residents United for Rural and Agricultural Land)- community meeting; not a county meeting
Monday, September 28, 2026 · 6:30pm
Astoria Village Inn, 339 Main St, Astoria, SD 57213
RURAL (Residents United for Rural and Agricultural Land) is seeking public input on proposed Deuel County zoning ordinance changes on industrial development
“Identify your concerns, do your research, and come up with potential solutions”
IMPORTANT! SD Public Utilities Commission - public input on 765 kV Powerlines (EL26-026)
Thursday, October 22, 2026 · 5:30Pm
Clear Lake Community Center, 218 Third Ave. S., Clear Lake
SD Public Utilities Commission - public input on 765 kV Powerlines (EL26-026) PowerOn Midwest facility permit
Email puc@state.sd.us, or mail PUC, 500 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD 57501. Include EL26-026, your full name, mailing address, email and phone. Accepted until the decision; no party status needed (PUC Siting Guide, page 2).
“On September 4, 2026, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (Commission)
received a facility permit application (Application) from Northern States Power Company, doing
business as Xcel Energy, and Otter Tail Power Company, (collectively, Applicants) for the
PowerOn: Big Stone South to Brookings County to South Dakota/Minnesota Border Project
(Project). The Project will consist of an approximately ninety-mile long 765 kilovolt (kV)
transmission line located in Grant, Deuel and Brookings Counties in South Dakota and associated
facilities including the Big Stone Station Expansion in Grant County, and the 345 kV Brookings
County Substation expansion ( consisting of an expansion of the current 345 kV Brookings County
Substation and a new expansion area to enable the 765 kV connection approximately five miles
away) in Brookings County. The Project also includes an approximately five-mile long 345 kV
transmission line connecting the Brookings County 345 kV Substation Expansion to the Brookings
County 765 kV Substation expansion. Applicants anticipate construction to be completed and in
service in 2034. Applicants estimate the total construction cost of the proposed Project to be
approximately $1.3 billion to $1.7 billion.
The Commission has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to SDCL Chapters 1-26 and
49-41 Band ARSD Chapter 20:10:22.
Pursuant to SDCL 49-418-15 and 49-418-16 the Commission hereby provides Notice that
the Commission will hold the following public input meetings:
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. CT
Brookings Inn
2500 E. Sixth St.
Brookings, SD 57006
Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. CT
Milbank School Theater
1001 E. Park Avenue
Milbank, SD 57252
Thursday, October 22, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. CT
Clear Lake Community Center
218 Third Ave. S.
Clear Lake, SD 57226
The purpose of the public input meetings will be to hear public comments regarding the
Application and the Project. At the meeting, Applicants will present a brief description of the
Project, after which interested persons may appear and present their views, comments, and
questions regarding the Application. A copy of the Application is on file with the Grant, Deuel and
Brookings County Auditors and at the Commission's office in Pierre. The Application and all other
documents in the docket, including detailed maps of the Project, may be accessed on the
Commission's website at puc.sd.gov under Commission Actions, Commission Dockets, Electric
Dockets, 2026 Electric Dockets, EL26-026.
Pursuant to SDCL 49-418-17 and ARSD 20:10:22:40, the parties to this proceeding are
currently the Applicants and the Commission Staff. Each municipality, county, and governmental
agency in the area where the facility is proposed to be sited; or any person residing in the area
where the facility is proposed to be sited, or any directly interested person, may be granted party
status in this proceeding by making timely written application to the Commission. Applications for
party status will be available at the public input hearing or may be obtained from the Commission's
website or by contacting the Commission. Applications for party status must be filed with the
Commission on or before 5:00 p.m., CT, November 3, 2026. The Commission will also accept
comments in writing from anyone, either by mail, personal delivery, or e-mail until the time of the
decision. You only need to apply for party status if you want to participate formally in the case by
putting on actual testimony or other factual evidence, conducting discovery, cross-examining
witnesses, making legal arguments, and to preserve your right to appeal to the courts if you do
not believe the Commission's decision is legally correct. You do not need to have party status in
order to submit written comments.
Following the public input meeting, the Commission may schedule a formal evidentiary
hearing conforming to SDCL Chapter 1-26 to consider issues raised by any party or the
Commission itself. At such a formal hearing, all parties will have the opportunity to appear, present
evidence, and cross-examine the other parties' witnesses and exercise all other rights afforded
by SDCL Chapters 1-26, 49-1, and 49-41 Band ARSD Chapters 20:10:01 and 20:10:22, including
rights of appeal to the courts.
For approval, Applicant must show that the proposed Project will comply with all applicable
laws and rules, will not pose a threat of serious injury to the environment nor to the social and
economic condition of inhabitants or expected inhabitants in the siting area, will not substantially
impair the health, safety or welfare of the inhabitants, and will not unduly interfere with the orderly
development of the region with due consideration having been given to the views of governing
bodies of affected local units of government. Based upon these factors, the Commission will
decide whether a permit to construct should be granted, denied, or granted upon such terms,
conditions, or modifications of the construction, operation, or maintenance as the Commission
finds appropriate. It is therefore
ORDERED, that the Commission will hold public input meetings on the Application and
Project on the following dates:
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. CT at the Brookings Inn, 2500 E. Sixth St.,
Brookings, SD 57006;
Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. CT at the Milbank School Theater,
1001 E. Park Avenue, Milbank, SD 57252; AND
Thursday, October 22, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. CT at the Clear Lake Community Center,
2
218 Third Ave. S., Clear Lake, SD 57226. It is further
ORDERED, that pursuant to SDCL 49-418-17 and ARSD 20: 10:22:40, applications for
party status should be filed on or before 5:00 p.m., CT, on November 3, 2026.
Pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, these hearings will be held in physically
accessible locations. Please contact the Public Utilities Commission at (605) 773-3201 at least
48 hours prior to the meeting if you have special needs so arrangements can be made to
accommodate you.”