Homes in Clear Lake Twp. will not be able to connect to a new Xcel natural gas pipeline.

 

That’s what the county board found out Tuesday from Xcel representative Brian Sullivan. 

 

Sullivan was there at the request of the board because of a proposal by Xcel to run a natural gas pipe from Hwy. 10 in Sherburne County to St. Augusta to service commercial businesses. 

 

Two weeks earlier, Xcel’s request for a conditional use permit (CUP) to run the line under the Mississippi River was on the agenda, having been recommended for approval by the planning commission. But Commissioner Felix Schmiesing asked to table a decision until the board could speak with someone about residents along the proposed route connecting to the pipeline.

 

The board had been approached in 2014 by a group of residents in the Oak Creek Estates development in Santiago Twp. who wanted to have a natural gas pipeline run to their homes because of high propane costs.

 

They received an estimate of $154,000 from Xcel.

 

Tuesday, Schmiesing said he was able to hook up his commercial building to a nearby natural gas pipeline years ago at no cost, and he was wondering if the same could be done for residents along the new pipeline. He said Xcel isn’t being charged by the county for using the right of way.

 

“The right-of-way you’re in is owned by the citizens of Sherburne County and they’re going to have that gas line there, so how can they benefit from that?” he asked.

 

“My thought is, how do we do kind of a trade-off here. This isn’t going to benefit anyone in Sherburne County. How do we begin that dialogue?”

 

Sullivan said Xcel is regulated by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and is required to provide gas service to people in its service area. But he said the new pipeline isn’t the type that residential customers can hook up to. It’s a line running to businesses in St. Augusta because the current line has reached its capacity.

 

“It’s a high pressure gas line,” he said. “It goes from a regulator station to a regulator station.”

 

Sullivan said Xcel already has two natural gas distribution lines in the area, one going along Co. Rd. 8 and another halfway down Co. Rd. 57 coming in from the west.

“People along the route can petition to get gas service,” he said.

 

He said Xcel can’t make special accommodations in this case.

 

“Why can’t we cut them a deal so they don’t have to pay whatever amount it is to get that line from where it is to them? We’re regulated by the PUC and they’re very strict about how we charge our customers,” he said. “We can’t give certain people a benefit without giving it to everybody else.”

 

The board approved the CUP.