The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission this week approved a settlement stipulation allowing Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. and Otter Tail Power Co. to construct a 345-kilovolt transmission line in northeastern South Dakota. The approximate 160-mile line will stretch between new substations near Big Stone City, S.D., and Ellendale, N.D., crossing portions of Brown, Day and Grant counties. ... (read more)

With the date of Aug. 11 clearly visible on calendars, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and the South Dakota One Call Board hope that date – 8/11 – will serve as a reminder for residents to call 811 prior to any digging project to have underground utility lines marked. ... (read more)

With warm weather around the corner, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and the South Dakota One Call Board remind those planning to do any excavation work that state law requires a call to 811 at least two working days before beginning any digging project in order to give professional locators time to mark the appropriate underground utility lines. Such projects include, but are not limited to, installing a fence, planting trees or shrubbery or preparing a new garden area. ... (read more)

South Dakota’s electric transmission system will receive a boost with the recent approval of a new 345-kilovolt line to be constructed in Deuel and Brookings counties. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission last month granted a permit to Xcel Energy and Otter Tail Power Co. to jointly construct 43 miles of line and associated facilities of the Big Stone South-Brookings County project. ... (read more)

Chris Nelson, vice chairman of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, has been appointed by the Federal Communications Commission to the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. Nelson was nominated for the appointment by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. ... (read more)

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously last week to proceed with the development of rules that will help define cases involving contracts for power production facility developers seeking to sell wholesale power as a qualified facility to a utility company. ... (read more)

South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner Gary Hanson will preside as chairman of the PUC in 2014. Commissioner Chris Nelson will serve as vice chairman. Both commissioners were elected to the posts at a Jan. 7 PUC meeting and will continue in the leadership roles they held in 2013. Kristie Fiegen is the third member of the commission. ... (read more)

South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Vice Chairman Chris Nelson has been selected to serve as chairman of a national committee of utility regulators charged with analyzing and impacting telecommunications policy, trends and best practices. Nelson's appointment to chair the Committee on Telecommunications for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners was announced today by NARUC president Colette Honorable of Arkansas. The appointment also earns Nelson a spot on NARUC's board of directors. ... (read more)