Alexandria to
Big Oaks

Current status

Xcel Energy is beginning construction activities to build the Big Oaks substation and the process of adding the second circuit to the existing CapX2020 transmission line as part of the Alexandria-Big Oaks project.

The project team is began in April 2025 conducting inspections of the existing transmission lines using drones and on the ground tools. All inspections are expected to occur within the project’s existing easements.

Big Oaks Substation

Grading will began in and we expect work on the substation to continue through 2025 and be complete in late 2027.

Second circuit installation

The second circuit on transmission structures will begin near the Alexandria Substation in August 2025 using a combination of ground-based equipment and helicopters. The work will progress to the east from the Alexandria Substation throughout 2025 with primary work occurring near Alexandria, Sauk Centre and Melrose.

Please contact us with questions about the work as it is ongoing.

Project overview

Several Minnesota energy companies that built the CapX2020 Fargo-St. Cloud/Monticello transmission project have proposed a new transmission line that will add new transmission infrastructure to increase reliability, reduce grid congestion, and increase access to new renewable energy in Minnesota and the Dakotas.

The Alexandria-Big Oaks project will mainly involve adding a new transmission line on the existing CapX2020 structures between Alexandria and a new substation to be located on Xcel Energy property near the Sherco power plant in Becker, Minn.

The Alexandria-Big Oaks project is associated with the Big Stone South-Alexandria-Big Oaks project, which submitted a combined Certificate of Need application to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Learn more about the Big Stone South-Alexandria project here, including the status of route development on that western segment of the project.

If the Certificate of Need and eastern segment Route Permit are approved, construction could begin in late 2024 and be complete in 2026.

Project Need

Minnesota's electric grid has served customers reliably for more than a century as our energy system has grown and changed. In recent years, utilities have added new renewable energy, such as wind and solar, and retired aging plants. Additional plant retirements and renewable additions throughout the region require us to build new transmission projects to deliver electricity from where it's generated to where it's used.

Additionally, as the system has changed, the existing system is under stress and experiences congestion, which limits the amount of electricity that can reliably be delivered to customers. The Big Stone South-Alexandria-Big Oaks project will help reduce that congestion, providing benefits to customers throughout the Upper Midwest.

Regulatory Process

Minnesota law requires energy companies proposing high-voltage transmission lines to apply for a Certificate of need and a route permit, which are reviewed by the Public Utilities Commission following a public review process. To view the certificate of need application, eastern segment route permit, and other filings in the proceeding, click here (mn.gov/puc), click on e-dockets, and select 22-538 (22 stands for the year 2022 when information was first filed), and click 'search.' For the eastern segment route permit application and relevant documents, select 23-159.