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Power Line Controversy

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This December 1977 "Special Edition" of the Hold That Line newsletter is titled "Powerline News, Elrosa, MN." Some of its articles encourage a moratorium on construction and a "science court" evaluation; others address size of power lines and encourage continued protest. Names mentioned include Randy Fischer, John Tripp, Steffen Pederson, Rudy Perpich, and Ira Emmons. Hold That Line was the newsletter of the local movement to protest the construction of a direct-current power line across rural Minnesota by

This December 1977 "Special Edition" of the Hold That Line newsletter is titled "Powerline News, Elrosa, MN." Some of its articles encourage a moratorium on construction and a "science court" evaluation; others address size of power lines and encourage continued protest. Names mentioned include Randy Fischer, John Tripp, Steffen Pederson, Rudy Perpich, and Ira Emmons. Hold That Line was the newsletter of the local movement to protest the construction of a direct-current power line across rural Minnesota by the United Power Association (UPA) and the Cooperative Power Association (CPA). The newsletter is known to have been published from August 1978 to June 1983. Used with the permission of Pope County Historical Society.

The construction of a high-voltage power line across west-central Minnesota in the 1970s created a dispute about land use and energy needs that pitted farmers against large utilities and governmental agencies. The farmers began their opposition to the line by appearing at governmental hearings and in court proceedings. When those methods proved unsuccessful, protesters employed more confrontational methods.

Cooperative Power Association (CPA) and United Power Association (UPA) were utilities that distributed electricity to rural electrical cooperatives, which sold the electricity to consumers in about two-thirds of Minnesota. In the early 1970s, CPA and UPA determined that they needed more sources of electricity to meet the growing demands of their members. CPA and UPA decided to buy power generated by a Coal Creek Station to be built near Underwood, North Dakota, next to a coal mine. The electricity would be transmitted by a high-voltage line that crossed Minnesota from Traverse County to Wright County. From Wright County, the power would be transmitted to local cooperatives.

CPA and UPA planned a 400-kilovolt (kV) direct-current line more than 400 miles long, about 170 miles of which would be in Minnesota. The line would be supported by towers about 180 feet high with about four towers per mile. Because of the rural nature of the route, the power line would inevitably affect farmland. In some places, the line would go along property boundaries, but in others, the line would cut diagonally across fields under cultivation.

Organized opposition to the project began in Pope and Grant Counties. In the summer and fall of 1974, residents appeared at meetings of county planning commissions and boards that were considering the requests of CPA and UPA for permits to build the power line. In the face of citizen opposition to the power line, the counties denied or deferred the permit requests. Farmers who spoke at these meetings objected to being forced to allow what they considered to be large, ugly structures to mar the land they had farmed for many years. More concretely, they complained that the power line’s planners overstated the need for electricity, the towers would interfere with irrigation systems, and the wires would make aerial spraying dangerous. Some opponents of the line also expressed fears that such a high voltage could have adverse health effects on livestock and humans. For example, it was argued, the line could create excessive ozone or ion levels as well as a risk of shock to people working under the line.

After several counties began considering the requests for construction permits, the Minnesota Environmental Quality Council (MEQC) assumed jurisdiction of the power-line approval process pursuant to a then-new Minnesota Power Plan Siting Act, taking the matter out of the hands of local authorities. After holding public hearings, the MEQC rejected the allegations of harmful health effects and ruled that construction of the power line could proceed. This decision and a related decision of the Minnesota Energy Agency were upheld by a three-judge panel and the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Opponents of the power line did not confine their efforts to the legal system. They lobbied legislators and organized rallies near the route of the power line and at the state capitol. Protesters interfered with construction work by, among things, blocking surveyors from entering fields and damaging construction equipment. In Pope County, a guard watching construction materials was injured by gun shots determined to have been fired by opponents of the power line.

The small sheriffs’ departments of several affected counties said they were unable to control the situation and requested state help. In January 1978, Governor Rudy Perpich ordered that 175 state troopers be made available to control protests in Pope County. Arrests and violent confrontations ensued, including an incident in which protesters sprayed ammonium fertilizer on state troopers.

Once the towers and lines were installed, they became targets of vandalism. At least 9,500 insulators were shot out. Vandals found that they could cause towers to fall to the ground by cutting tower legs. From August 1978 through August 1983, sixteen towers were toppled.

The power line began commercial operation on August 1, 1979. Opposition activities declined but did not immediately end. Litigation about the power line continued into the 1980s.

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“1,500 at Capitol Rally Protest Powerline.” Pope County Tribune, January 26, 1978.

Coffman, Jack B. “County Requests Guard Troops.” Minneapolis Tribune, December 7, 1976.

Coffman, Jack B. “Report: Power-line Hazards Unproven.” Minneapolis Tribune, November 11, 1977.

“Cold Weather Fails to Halt Protest Action.” Pope County Tribune, February 2, 1978.

Cooperative Power Association. 1983 Annual Report.

“Hearing Tonight on Powerline Proposal.” Pope County Tribune, July 25, 1974.

Kuhn, David. “Is Power Line Perilous? Can It Be Buried?” Minneapolis Tribune, February 13, 1977.

Lignite Energy Council. North Dakota’s Largest Power Plant: Coal Creek Station. https://lignite.com/news/north-dakotas-largest-power-plant-coal-creek-station/

Marx, Patrick. “High-voltage Dispute Is Charged with Fear.” Minneapolis Star, June 30, 1976.

Minnesota Supreme Court decision in No Power Line, Inc. v. Minnesota Environmental Quality Council, 262 N.W.2d 312 (Minn. 1977).

OH 25
Oral history interview with Alice Tripp, December 6, 1977
Minnesota Powerline Oral History Project, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
Description: Tripp discusses how she became involved in the opposition to the power line.
http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/display.php?irn=10448603

Picone, Linda. “Farm Belt Pickets Oppose Power Line.” Minneapolis Tribune, August 3, 1975.

——— . “In Power Struggle, Farmers Draw the Line at Drawing Line.” Minneapolis Tribune, June 13, 1976.

“Planners Delay Power Line Decision Again.” Pope County Tribune, September 12, 1974.

“Power Line Guard Shot.” Pope County Tribune, March 16, 1978.

Sturdevant, Lori. “Power-line Shot Injuries Guard.” Minneapolis Tribune, March 16, 1978.

“Thousands Attend Powerline Rally Sunday.” Pope County Tribune, March 9, 1978.

“Troopers Greeted with Flowers, Cookies, Coffee.” Pope County Tribune, January 12, 1978.

Vanderpoel, Peter. “Farmers Don’t Want Power Line Across Their Land.” Minneapolis Tribune, December 26, 1974.

“Vandals Topple 14th Tower of Controversial Power Line.” Minneapolis Tribune, September 5, 1980.

Walburn, Roberta. “Patrol Readied for Power Protest.” Minneapolis Tribune, January 6, 1978.

——— . “Power Protesters Rout Surveyors in Stearns County.” Minneapolis Tribunee, January 31, 1978.

——— . “State Troopers Lose Control of Protest Against Power Line.”Minneapolis Tribune, February 15, 1978.

——— . “Power-line Foes Strike at Night.”Minneapolis Tribune, February 10, 1978.

——— . “Fertilizer Sprayed on State Troopers.” Minneapolis Tribune, February 16, 1978.

——— . “Pressure’s on Those Who Don’t Join Power Protest.” Minneapolis Tribune, February 27, 1978.

——— . “Co-ops Turn Power Line Over to Federal Control.” Minneapolis Tribune, September 10, 1980.

Wellstone, Paul and Barry M. Casper. Powerline: The First Battle of America’s Energy War. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003.

Wellstone, Paul and Lamont Tarbox. “Trouble on the Land: Confrontation on the Prairie.” The Progressive 41, no. 12 (December 1977): 41–43.

Wolfe, Warren. “The Lines Are Drawn in Power Dispute.” Minneapolis Tribune, August 22, 1974.

Related Images

This December 1977 "Special Edition" of the Hold That Line newsletter is titled "Powerline News, Elrosa, MN." Some of its articles encourage a moratorium on construction and a "science court" evaluation; others address size of power lines and encourage continued protest. Names mentioned include Randy Fischer, John Tripp, Steffen Pederson, Rudy Perpich, and Ira Emmons. Hold That Line was the newsletter of the local movement to protest the construction of a direct-current power line across rural Minnesota by
This December 1977 "Special Edition" of the Hold That Line newsletter is titled "Powerline News, Elrosa, MN." Some of its articles encourage a moratorium on construction and a "science court" evaluation; others address size of power lines and encourage continued protest. Names mentioned include Randy Fischer, John Tripp, Steffen Pederson, Rudy Perpich, and Ira Emmons. Hold That Line was the newsletter of the local movement to protest the construction of a direct-current power line across rural Minnesota by
Anti-power-line button made by Continental Press Inc. of St. Cloud, ca. 1975–1987.
Anti-power-line button made by Continental Press Inc. of St. Cloud, ca. 1975–1987.
Power line over Minnesota farmland, undated. Minnesota Powerline Oral History Project (OH 25). Oral History Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.
Power line over Minnesota farmland, undated. Minnesota Powerline Oral History Project (OH 25). Oral History Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul.
Peaceful March For Justice flyer, undated. The march was organized to protest the construction of power lines in rural Minnesota in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Used with the permission of Pope County Historical Society.
Peaceful March For Justice flyer, undated. The march was organized to protest the construction of power lines in rural Minnesota in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Used with the permission of Pope County Historical Society.
Workers finish connecting the upper and lower portions of a high-voltage power-line tower in Grant County, Minnesota, 1976–1978.
Workers finish connecting the upper and lower portions of a high-voltage power-line tower in Grant County, Minnesota, 1976–1978.
A crane helicopter lining up a power-line tower’s top portion with its base during construction of a high-voltage power line through Grant County, Minnesota, 1976-1978.
A crane helicopter lining up a power-line tower’s top portion with its base during construction of a high-voltage power line through Grant County, Minnesota, 1976-1978.
A drum puller and reels of cable being strung for the Cooperative Power Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota/United Power Association, Elk River, Minnesota high-voltage power-line construction through Grant County, Minnesota, 1976–1978.
A drum puller and reels of cable being strung for the Cooperative Power Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota/United Power Association, Elk River, Minnesota high-voltage power-line construction through Grant County, Minnesota, 1976–1978.
Aerial view of the Coal Creek Station, 2019.
Aerial view of the Coal Creek Station, 2019.

Turning Point

On September 30, 1977, the Minnesota Supreme Court rules that construction of the power line can proceed. Afterwards, opponents of the power line increasingly turned to methods outside the legal system.

Chronology

1974

Pope County and Grant County hold hearings on applications for construction permits in the Summer and Fall.

1975

Picketing against the power-line project begins in August.

1976

Cooperative Power Association (CPA) and United Power Association (UPA) begin surveying work for the power line in June, and protestors start blocking surveyors from working.

1977

The Minnesota Supreme Court issues a decision on September 30, allowing power line construction to proceed.

1978

On January 6, Governor Rudy Perpich authorizes sending as many as 175 state troopers to control protests in Pope County.

1978

An estimated 1,500 people rally at the state capitol on January 26 in opposition to the power line.

1978

The first project tower is completed on March 2.

1978

A guard at a project assembly yard is injured by gunfire on March 14.

1978

In August, Vandals’ toppling of power line towers begins.

1978

The last tower is erected in September.

1979

The power line begins commercial operation on August 1.

1980

In September, the federal Rural Electrification Administration assumes control of the power line, which makes tampering with it a federal offense.

1983

Vandals stop overturning power-line towers.