{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://collinpeterson.house.gov/press-release/following-efforts-klobuchar-franken-peterson-nolan-department-energy-approves-great", "Following Efforts from Klobuchar, Franken, Peterson, Nolan, Department of Energy Approves Great Northern Transmission Line", "2016-11-18", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "MN", "Collin Peterson", "P000258", "collinpeterson.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The Great Northern Transmission Line will help provide Minnesota electric customers access to reasonably priced, clean, renewable energy\nLast year, Klobuchar, Franken, Peterson, and Nolan urged support for the project in a letter to Secretary Moniz and in September, the lawmakers sent another letter to Moniz urging a timely review of the project\n\n\tWASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Following efforts from U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, along with Representatives Collin Peterson Rick Nolan, today the U.S. Department of Energy gave federal approval to Minnesota Power\u2019s Great Northern Transmission Line, a 220-mile electric transmission line that will cross the U.S.-Canada border between Minnesota and Manitoba and help provide Minnesota electric customers access to reasonably priced, clean, renewable energy. Last year, Klobuchar, Franken, Peterson, and Nolan urged support for the project in a letter to Secretary Moniz. In September, the lawmakers sent another letter to Moniz urging a timely review of the project. \u00a0 \u00a0\n\u201cThe federal approval of the Great Northern Transmission Line is good news for our economy and our environment,\u201d said Klobuchar. \u201cNow that this important project can move forward, more Minnesota households and businesses will have access to clean and renewable power.\u201d\n\u201cThe Great Northern Transmission line with help bring more affordable and reliable renewable energy to northern Minnesota families and businesses,\u201d said Franken. \u201cI\u2019m pleased that the federal government has approved this important project to move forward in our state.\u201d \u00a0\n\u201cThis is an important step to providing more Minnesotans with reliable, affordable, renewable energy,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cThe Great Northern Transmission Line has broad support from state, local and tribal governments and I am pleased that today\u2019s approval will allow Minnesota Power to move ahead with planned construction.\u201d\n\u201cThis is an important project for securing the availability of affordable, renewable electricity in northeastern Minnesota \u2013 especially for residential consumers, as well as our mining, manufacturing, timber and tourism industries,\u201d Nolan said. \u201cI am very pleased the project's final stage of review has crossed over the finish line, just in time for the winter construction season. The Great Northern Transmission Line enjoys broad stakeholder support, including local tribes, and has positive energy security and environmental implications for northeastern Minnesota, the Nation, and North America. I especially want to thank Secretary Moniz for his work and responsiveness to our recent request for a timely resolution.\"\nThe letter to Secretary Moniz from September is below.\nDear Secretary Moniz:\nWe write to urge your timely review of the Department of Energy's (DOE) processing and issuance of the Presidential permit necessary for the Great Northern Transmission Line's (GNTL) border crossing with Canada.\nWe have written to you in the past on the project 's successful international collaboration between Canada and the United States, as well as the cooperation between DOE and state and local stakeholders. These efforts were noted by the Administration as a model for how other projects such as these should undertake stakeholder collaboration. Furthermore, we have been encouraged by the Administration's citation of the merits of the GNTL itself on several occasions.\nGiven the public support and collaboration between DOE, state regulators and other stakeholders, the project sponsor's expectation was that DOE's internal review and engagement with other federal agencies should have been well underway by the time the state route permit was issued in February by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Unfortunately, it appears DOE's Presidential permit process did not run entirely in parallel with the state approval process, causing delays. The ideal construction period\u00a0 for the project is in the winter, since work over sensitive wetlands is best done when the ground is frozen. Failure to make a timely decision on the issuance of the Presidential permit could compromise the project's economics and could jeopardize \u00a0the project itself.\nWe would appreciate your immediate and personal attention to this matter so that the GNTL, which enjoys broad stakeholder support and has positive energy security and environmental implications for the region, the nation, and North America -can go forward as planned. Thank you for your consideration of our request.\n\tSincerely,", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://collinpeterson.house.gov/press-release/following-efforts-klobuchar-franken-peterson-nolan-department-energy-approves-great"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7601330764591694, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}