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transmission system in that part of the state, and so this will help provide some additional ... reliability," Clark said.
• The three-member commission voted unanimously Wednesday to approve Minnkota Power Cooperative's route plans for the new power line. The decision clears the way for the Grand Forks-based utility to begin construction next month.
• The commission has held several public hearings along the proposed route to hear from landowners, which Clark said resulted in minor changes to Minnkota's plan.
• The line will carry electricity to Grand Forks from Minnkota's Milton R. Young station, about 40 miles northwest of Bismarck in western North Dakota's coal country.
• Minnkota provides electricity to 11 rural electric cooperatives and a dozen municipal utilities in eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota, which together

serve more than 130,000 customers.
• The new transmission line will replace an existing line that runs from the Young plant to Hermantown, Minn., west of Duluth in northern Minnesota.
• A Minnkota subsidiary earlier sold the existing power line to Minnesota Power, a unit of Allete Inc. of Duluth. Minnesota Power plans to use the line to carry renewable electricity from western North Dakota wind farms to its customers in the Duluth area.
• As part of the deal, Minnesota Power is

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