The North Dakota Public Service Commission has rescheduled a public hearing and will hold an additional hearing regarding a proposal to construct a transmission line in Mercer, McLean, Ward, Mountrail and Williams Counties.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative is requesting a siting permit for the construction of a 345-kV transmission line. The line would be about 162 miles long and would originate at the Leland Olds Station substation located southeast of Stanton and would end at the Tande substation east of Tioga. Estimated cost of the project is $317 million.

This project was selected by the Southwest Power Pool as part of the 2021 Interregional Transmission Planning process to mitigate reliability constraints and to increase load serving capability in the region. The project would complete a 345-kV loop around the north side of Lake Sakakawea between two existing substations where no 345-kV transmission exists today.

The PSC previously held a hearing in Underwood but has scheduled another hearing to ensure that anyone who wants to provide comments has the opportunity. Those who testified at the previous hearing do not have to attend the additional hearing. Those comments will be included as part of the official record for the case.

The hearing will be Monday, March 31, at 1 p.m. in Underwood City Hall, Carl Bader Hall.

A second hearing will be Friday, April 4, at 9 a.m. in the Mountrail County South Complex in Stanley.

Any comments from members of the public must be received at a hearing. In­formation received after the hearings will not be part of the official record and cannot be used as a basis for the PSC’s decision without additional procedures being followed.