CapX2020 announced it selected MYR Group and Quanta Services, Inc. to provide construction services for the CapX2020 Group 1 transmission line projects. CapX2020 is a joint initiative of eleven transmission-owning utilities in Minnesota and the surrounding region proposing to build more than 700 mi of new transmission infrastructure under what is expected to be the largest transmission expansion in the upper Midwest in 30 years. The projects include three proposed 345-kV transmission lines and one proposed 230-kV transmission line
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The CapX2020 lead utilities are working toward agreement frameworks for the initial projects during first quarter 2011. The first phase of the CapX2020 construction work will be performed by Quanta Services' M.J. Electric operating unit and MYR Group's MYR Transmission Services, Inc. ("MYRT").
The construction projects will be assigned to each contractor over the next five years. The first contract, for the Bemidji-Grand Rapids project, is expected to be signed between M.J. Electric and CapX2020 by the end of first quarter 2011. Under the proposed agreement, M.J. Electric will install approximately 70 mi of 230-kV transmission line between the Wilton Substation near Bemidji, Minnesota, and the Boswell Substation in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2011 with a projected in-service date of late 2012.
The second contract, for the segment between St. Cloud and Alexandria, is expected to be signed between MYR Group's MYRT and CapX2020 in early second quarter 2011. Under the proposed agreement, MYRT will install approximately 60 mi of 345-kV transmission line between the Quarry Substation near St. Cloud, Minnesota, and the Alexandria Switching Station (future Substation) in Alexandria, Minnesota. Construction is currently scheduled to begin late fall of 2011 with a projected in-service date of 2013.
