Grid United's $6B North Plains Connector targets 2032 link

Grid United aims to build a first-of-its-kind transmission line linking three separate U.S. Power grids. The $6 billion North Plains Connector is a 420-mile, 3-gigawatt high-voltage direct current link between Montana and North Dakota, with completion targeted for 2032 at the earliest.

CEO Michael Skelly has spent a decade trying to build major transmission. His current project has secured backing from a utility consortium spanning Minnesota to Oregon and officials from both the Biden and Trump administrations within the U.S. Department of Energy. The line is designed to share power between grid regions across the West, Great Plains, and Upper Midwest.

Federal backing and utility commitments

A $700 million Department of Energy grant awarded in 2024 is helping Grid United handle early costs and risks. The DOE also published a final environmental impact statement for the project last week. This federal support is important for gaining utility commitments and regulatory approvals, according to Skelly. He stated that having the money available "is quite helpful to the utilities that are participating in the project as they go through regulatory approvals."

The Trump administration has continued working with Grid United despite clawing back other Biden-era grants. This combination of DOE and Grid United assuming early risks has given utilities confidence to make conditional commitments to pay for a share once construction finishes.

A wide net of participating utilities

Utilities directly involved in the build states include Minnkota Power Cooperative and NorthWestern Energy. Others joining from farther away are Allete Energy and Great River Energy in Minnesota, Portland General Electric in Oregon, and Puget Sound Energy in Washington state. These distant utilities seek a share of the reliability and cost benefits that will flow indirectly across the connected grid regions.

Gretchen Kershaw, chief operating officer at consultancy Grid Strategies, explained that HVDC lines enable two-way power flows that can backfill shortfalls across entire regional networks. Utilities do not need to draw power directly from the line's endpoints to gain advantages.

Quantifying the reliability benefit

A key challenge is measuring the line's resource adequacy value-how it helps utilities keep grids running during high demand or emergencies. Julie Pierce, Allete's vice president of strategy and planning, called the project's potential massive and hard to bound. "How do you value the ability to keep lights on in the Upper Midwest when there’s a storm coming through, but you’re able to import that solar from California?" she asked.

Pierce said utilities can start incorporating the reliability value of their line share into the integrated resource plans they file with state regulators. Allete partnered on the project in 2023, recognizing the energy transformation requires moving beyond traditional service territories.

The long road to construction

Substantial work remains before breaking ground. The project must secure agreements with landowners, obtain state and local permits, and win final regulatory approvals in Montana and North Dakota. High-profile transmission projects often take over a decade from inception to completion, and many fail. Skelly's previous company, Clean Line Energy Partners, shut down in 2019 after failing to complete five major power lines.

If successful, the North Plains Connector will operate for decades. Skelly noted that while future generation and demand profiles are uncertain, a better grid will allow for greater optimization of whatever power sources exist by 2050.