Judge recommends buried power line for Midtown area

An administrative law judge recommended Friday that a high-voltage power line designed to serve the heart of south Minneapolis be buried under E. 28th Street rather than follow the Midtown Greenway, a major victory for the city and neighborhood groups.

That's a more expensive option, but it would keep above-ground lines or disruptive digging away from the trench that carries the greenway, which is designated a historic district for its series of bridges built to span the rail tracks that once ran though the trench.

Judge Beverly Jones Heydinger cited a 1993 decision protecting the downtown Minneapolis Armory to find that reasons of cost, convenience and efficiency aren't sufficient to impair such a protected resource when alternatives exist.

But Heydinger did back Xcel Energy, which is proposing the 1.5-mile line, on its two preferred substation sites at either end of the new circuit. The west end station, on the north side of the greenway between Portland and Oakland avenues, could distract aesthetically from the trench district, but nobody offered a reasonable alternative, Heydinger said. The other recommended station site is east of Hiawatha Avenue adjacent to the greenway.

Heydinger urged that both be designed to minimize disruption to the greenway.

Her recommendation goes to the state Public Utilities Commission for a decision. But before the project can go ahead, Xcel must obtain a certificate of need for it under special legislation imposed by the 2010 Legislature. Xcel argues that it needs the added capacity branching from existing lines on Hiawatha Avenue to adequately serve areas as far west as Interstate 35W.

Xcel said it was studying Heydinger's 98-page report and would have no immediate comment.

The utility proposed several possible routes for the line, including running it along the greenway's rim, either overhead or buried, following 28th, or splitting the line between E. 28th Street and either E. 26th Street or E. 31st Street.

Left unsettled by Heydinger's report is who should bear the extra $13.6 million cost of burying the lines, which the commission will decide. The city argues that Xcel should spread that cost widely rather than assess it to the immediate area's customers through their rates.

Assistant City Attorney Corey Conover said that Heydinger's finding that other potential routes aren't feasible or prudent supports the city's argument for spreading costs widely. Had she found that less expensive options were feasible, it would be easier for Xcel to make the case that more of the cost should be borne by local opponents who wanted a buried line so they wouldn't have to look at it.

Heydinger recommended that if the line is buried 30 inches under 28th Street, it be located as close to the center of the street as utilities allow. That would be to keep it away from homes, sidewalks and trees.

Xcel proposed the line in 2008, and extensive public comment followed. The requirement that Xcel prove the need for the line is likely to delay putting the lines into service until 2013, if they're permitted to go ahead.