On May 24, 2024, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed H.F. No. 5247 into law which directed transmission owners in Minnesota to identify Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) as a potential solution to address transmission system congestion and inadequacy. On October 31, 2025, transmission owning utilities filed their first Biennial Transmission Projects Report (Biennial Transmission Plan) which identified potential GETs solutions.

Background

By November 1 of odd-numbered years, Minnesota Statute § 216B.2425, subd. 2 requires transmission owners in Minnesota to file a Biennial Transmission Plan with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (Commission). The Biennial Transmission Plan became a required filing in 2001 and continues to identify possible solutions to anticipated areas of congestion and inadequacies in the transmission system.¹

In 2024, the Minnesota Legislature, citing increasing costs of transmission congestion from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, introduced legislation that directed Minnesota transmission owning utilities that own more than 750 miles of transmission in Minnesota to review historical and forecasted congestion facilities, determine if GETs solutions could be used to resolve each congestion point, and develop implementation plans for the identified uses of GETs.² In committee hearings, legislators stated the intent of the legislation was not to mandate the construction of new transmission projects or mandate the use of the GETs, but rather to require an analysis of whether the use of GETs would prove useful in relieving transmission congestion and inadequacy.³

By written order dated June 7, 2024 (the 2024 Order), the Commission required that transmission owners include information on GETs and a corresponding analysis in the 2025 Biennial Transmission Projects Report.⁴ In accordance with the statutory directive and the 2024 Order, the 2025 Biennial Transmission Plan included information on GETs and an analysis of whether GETs could be used to resolve transmission system congestion or inadequacy.

GETs Described in Statute and Cited in the 2025 Biennial Transmission Plan

GETs are hardware or software that reduces congestion or enhance the flexibility of the transmission system by increasing the capacity of a high-voltage transmission line or rerouting electricity from overloaded to uncongested lines without impacting industry safety standards.

The 2024 revisions to Minnesota Statute § 216B.2425, subd. 2(c)(2) provide that the Biennial Transmission Plan must:

identify alternative means of addressing each inadequacy listed, including grid enhancing technologies such as dynamic line rating, power flow controllers, topology optimization, and other hardware or software that reduce congestion or enhance the flexibility of the transmission system.

Dynamic line ratings are a changing transmission line rating based on local conditions rather than a static rating assumption and provides additional capacity to a transmission line.⁵ Existing line ratings refer to the maximum amount of electrical current that a transmission line can safely carry without exceeding its limits and overheating. These ratings are set based on a fixed set of factors rather than using real-time information, which can result in transmission infrastructure that is underutilized. However, the available capacity of transmission lines change based on environmental conditions like ambient air temperature, wind, cloud cover, solar heating, and precipitation. Dynamic line rating technology continuously monitors and adjusts the line ratings based on real-time data, allowing for more precise, efficient, and dynamic use of transmission lines.⁶

Power flow controllers are power electronic-based devices that can actively change the way power flows through the transmission system without making changes to generator dispatch or the topology of the network. In that way, these devices can divert power flow from congested lines to other circuits with spare capacity, making more efficient use of the transmission assets.⁷

Lastly, topology optimization is a software technology that finds reconfigurations to route flow around congested elements, taking advantage of the meshed nature of the bulk-power grid. The reconfigurations are implemented by switching high-voltage circuit breakers. By more evenly distributing flow over the network, topology optimization increases the transfer capacity of the grid.

In application of this analysis, the 2025 Biennial Transmission Plan identified 66 high congestion constraints and divided each congestion constraint into GETs subcategories based on the shortest payback period.⁸ In the coming months, the Commission will accept public comments on the overall 2025 Biennial Transmission Plan and the GETs analysis and decide on whether to approve, reject, or modify the GETs implementation plans.⁹

Conclusion

The inclusion of GETs analysis in the 2025 Biennial Transmission Plan is a meaningful first step in reviewing new technologies and investigating potential adoption of such technologies. The Commission will review the Biennial Transmission Plan and consider adding or modifying the existing filing requirements for future filings.¹⁰

---

¹In the Matter of Transmission Projects Reports and Development of Certified List of Transmission Projects, MPUC Docket No. E999/TL-01-961, Minnesota Transmission Projects Report (Nov. 1, 2001).
²https://www.house.mn.gov/sessiondaily/Story/18105
³https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHhdGVs-P8M
⁴In the Matter of the 2023 Minnesota Biennial Transmission Projects Report, MPUC Docket No. E999/M-23-91, Order Point 6 (June 7, 2024).
⁵https://inl.gov/national-security/dynamic-line-rating/
⁶https://www.ferc.gov/explainer-implementation-dynamic-line-ratings
⁷https://watt-transmission.org/what-are-grid-enhancing-technologies/
⁸In the Matter of the 2025 Biennial Transmission Projects Report, MPUC Docket No. E999/M-25-99, Report Appendix B at 4 (Oct. 31, 2025).
⁹In the Matter of the 2025 Biennial Transmission Projects Report, MPUC Docket No. E999/M-25-99, Notice of Comment Period – Grid Enhancing Technologies (Nov. 12, 2025).
¹⁰In the Matter of the 2025 Biennial Transmission Projects Report, MPUC Docket No. E999/M-25-99, Notice of Comment Period – Grid Enhancing Technologies (Nov. 12, 2025).