Xcel, Midwest reach deal on gas for town of Barre

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Aug 16, 2002 | by Murphy, Kevin

MADISON - A year ago, there was no natural gas service to the town of Barre, but by the end of the year, two utilities plan to begin piping the fuel to homes and businesses in the township east of La Crosse.

On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission approved a territory service agreement between Midwest Natural Gas of La Crosse and Xcel Energy Corp. of Minneapolis that gives Midwest the eastern two-thirds of the township and Xcel the western third.

Both utilities compete for natural gas service territories in several western central Wisconsin counties, between Vernon and St. Croix. The dispute in La Crosse County began in May 2001 when Xcel filed an, application to serve customers in Midwest's territory.

Xcel initially sought to serve all of Barre and part of the town of Greenfield but backed off plans to serve Greenfield when Midwest, which has been authorized by the state to serve Greenfield, opposed the request, Midwest's President Jim Senty said.

Midwest followed with its application to serve Barre in September 2001 and began expanding into parts of the town of Greenfield it had not previously served, said Xcel spokesman Brian Elwood.

Xcel's expansion plans did not push Midwest into action, Senty said. Although Xcel filed first, Midwest had been working on its application for some time, Senty said.

"Midwest approached Barre before NSP (Xcel's previous name) did," Senty said.

Now Midwest will spend in excess of $500,000 to serve the town of Barre, Senty said. Xcel's expansion into Barre will cost about $212,000 during the next five years, Elwood said.

Both utilities plan to hook up more than 100 customers in the first year of the expansion project.