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South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Meeting
December 30, 2019, at 10:30 A.M. CST
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. CST on Friday, December 27, 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 AD HOC COMMISSION MEETING

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 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. On July 26, 2019, the Commission issued a Final Decision and Order Granting Permit to Construct Facility; Notice of Entry (Permit). Pursuant to Condition 2 of the Permit, Applicant must follow all commitments made by Applicant in response to data requests. In response to a Staff data request, Applicant committed to utilizing low noise trailing edge (LNTE) blades. On December 13, 2019, Crowned Ridge filed a Request for Limited and Temporary Waiver, requesting, due to weather, Crowned Ridge be granted a temporary waiver of Condition 2(3) as it relates to the requirement to install LNTE on all turbine blades. Through curtailment of turbines, Crowned Ridge states it will nonetheless comply with sound permit limits. Crowned Ridge stated in its Request that it plans to have the LNTE blades installed on all turbines in late spring or early summer of 2020. On December 16, 2019, Intervenors filed a Notice of Insufficient Notice for Action and Request to Postpone Crowned Ridge Wind, LLC's Request for Limited and Temporary Waiver to Condition 2. On December 20, 2019, at tis regularly scheduled meeting, the Commission deferred this matter to a December 30, 2019, Ad Hoc Meeting.

      TODAY, shall the Commission grant Applicant’s Request for Limited and Temporary Waiver? OR, how shall the Commission proceed?

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 commission.

/s/Cindy Kemnitz       .
Cindy Kemnitz
Finance Manager
PUC Email
December 20, 2019