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South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Meeting
April 2, 2019, at 9:30 A.M. CDT
Room 413, Capitol Building
Pierre, South Dakota

NOTE:  Docket participants who wish to join this meeting by conference call should contact the Commission at 605-773-3201 by 5:00 p.m. CDT on Monday, April 1, 2019, to reserve a phone line. Lines are limited and assigned on a first come, first served basis, subject to possible reassignment to accommodate persons who must appear in a proceeding. Ultimately, if you wish to participate in docket discussion at the Commission Meeting and a line is not available, you may have to appear in person. 

NOTE:  To listen to the Commission Meeting live please go to the PUC’s website www.puc.sd.gov and click on the LIVE link on the home page. The Commission requests persons who will only be listening to proceedings and not actively appearing in a case listen via the webcast to free phone lines for those who have to appear.  The Commission meetings are archived on the PUC’s website under the Commission Actions tab. Click on “Commission Meeting Archives,” to access the recordings.

NOTE: Notice is further given to persons with disabilities that this Commission meeting is being held in a physically accessible place. If you have special needs, please notify the Commission and we will make all necessary arrangements.

AGENDA OF COMMISSION MEETING

Administration

1.     Approval of Minutes of the Commission Meeting Held on March 19, 2019 (Staff: Joy Lashley)

Consumer Reports

1.     Status Report on Consumer Utility Inquiries and Complaints Received by the Commission (Consumer Affairs: Deb Gregg)

Electric

1.     EL19-003       In the Matter of the Application by Crowned Ridge Wind, LLC for a Permit of a Wind Energy Facility in Grant and Codington Counties (Staff Analysts: Darren Kearney, Jon Thurber, Eric Paulson; Staff Attorneys: Kristen Edwards, Amanda Reiss)

On January 30, 2019, Crowned Ridge Wind, LLC (Crowned Ridge or Applicant) filed an application for a permit to construct a wind energy conversion facility to be located in Grant County and Codington County, South Dakota (Project). The Project would be situated on approximately 53,186 acres in the townships of Waverly, Rauville, Leola, Germantown, Troy, Stockholm, Twin Brooks, and Mazeppa, South Dakota. The total installed capacity of the Project would not exceed 300 megawatts (MW) of nameplate capacity. The proposed Project includes up to 130 wind turbine generators, access roads to turbines and associated facilities, underground 34.5-kilovolt (kV) electrical collector lines, underground fiber-optic cable, a 34.5-kV to 345-kV collection substation, one permanent meteorological tower, and an operations and maintenance facility. The Project will utilize the Crowned Ridge 34-mile 230-kV generation tie line and a new reactive power compensation substation to transmit the generation from the Project’s collector substation to the Project’s point of interconnection located at the Big Stone South 230-kV Substation, which is owned by Otter Tail Power Company. Applicant has executed a power purchase agreement with Northern States Power Company (NSP) to sell NSP the full output of the Project. The Project is expected to be completed in 2020. Applicant estimates the total cost of the Project to be $400 million. The Commission has granted party status to four individuals. The deadline for filing applications for party status is April 1, 2019. On March 26, 2019, staff filed a Motion for Procedural Schedule.

     TODAY, shall the Commission grant party status to any additional persons who may have filed? AND, shall the Commission grant staff’s Motion for Procedural Schedule? OR, how shall the Commission proceed?

Telecommunications

1.     TC19-004     In the Matter of the Application of Communications Venture Corporation dba INdigital for a Certificate of Authority to Provide Local Exchange Service in South Dakota (Staff Analyst: Lorena Reichert; Staff Attorney: Amanda Reiss)

On February 27, 2019, Communications Venture Corporation dba INdigital (INdigital) filed an application for a Certificate of Authority to provide local exchange services throughout South Dakota. Specifically, INdigital seeks a certificate to provide local exchange telecommunications services in order to provide transitional Enhanced 911 and Next Generation 911 services to State, local, and/or any governmental or quasi-governmental agencies involved in administering and delivering emergency services using the universal 911 dialing code. These Next Gen Core services include IP based 911 call routing, database services, and database management. On March 13, 2019, the South Dakota Telecommunications Association filed a Petition to Intervene.

     TODAY, shall the Commission grant intervention to any party that may have filed?

Items for Commission Discussion

Public Comment

Individuals who wish to make public comments to the commission may do so in person during this time. All who offer public comment are requested to sign in at the commission meeting. Time limits for comments may be determined at the discretion of the chairman.

Announcements

  1. Commissioners will attend the Center for Public Utilities’ Current Issues Forum, April 7-10, 2019, at the Eldorado Hotel, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

  2. The next regular commission meeting will be Friday, April 12, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. CDT in Room 413 at the State Capitol Building, Pierre, South Dakota.

  3. An evidentiary hearing for docket EL18-053 - In the Matter of the Application of Deuel Harvest Wind Energy LLC for a Permit of a Wind Energy Facility and a 345-kV Transmission Line in Deuel County is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. CDT/8:00 a.m. MDT, Monday, April 15 and continue through Thursday, April 18, 2019, at Drifters Event Center, 325 Hustan Avenue, Fort Pierre, South Dakota.

  4. The PUC office will be closed April 19 and 22, 2019, in observance of Easter.

  5. A public input hearing for docket EL19-012 - In the Matter of the Application by Sweetland Wind Farm, LLC for Facility Permits for a Wind Energy Facility and a 230-kV Transmission Facility in Hand County, South Dakota for the Sweetland Wind Farm Project will be held Thursday, April 25, 2019, at 5:30 p.m. CDT at the Miller Community Center, 526 N. Broadway Avenue, Miller, South Dakota.

  6. Commission meetings are scheduled for May 2 and 14, 2019.

/s/Cindy Kemnitz                .
Cindy Kemnitz
Finance Manager
PUC Email
March 27, 2019