BROOKINGS (9-28-26) — The Brookings Regional Growth Alliance hosted a Brookings County Commission Candidate Forum this weekend. Each of the five candidates spoke briefly about various issues facing the county — including a proposed 765-kilovolt transmission line that could impact local landowners.
PowerOn Midwest is a joint project led by several regional utility companies that seeks to run a new, high-voltage power line south from the Big Stone South Substation near Milbank, through to a substation in Brookings County and then east into Minnesota.
Challenger Alan Brutty… “One of the things that I’ve realized is that the county doesn’t have necessarily the ability to say no it can’t be here. But it does have the ability to set setbacks, reasonable requests for the people that may have the ability to come in and put these projects in place. So we as a County Commission need to respect landowner rights, we need to respect health risks and we need to have — again going to my campaign — we need to have the public that are for and against to come in and be a part of this process.”
Incumbent Brookings County Commissioner Larry Jensen… “There’s a lot of experts out there. We hear both sides. We get emails. We get you know one expert that (says) electricity doesn’t affect you, and the next one does. It’s a lot of, we get a lot of information and at the end we have to come up with a decision and a recommendation to the public utilities.”
Challenger Michael Lambertus… “County leaders have a responsibility to ensure that those concerns are heard and considered throughout the process. Brookings County’s future depends on balancing economic opportunity with respect for private property rights and quality of life. No rural large infrastructure project is without challenges. I believe the long-term benefits — maintaining a strong and reliable electrical system — outweigh the drawbacks.”
Marty Stanwick is currently Brookings County Sheriff and is seeking a seat on the County Commission… “We’re told that we have no choice in this, that we don’t have a say in this. That the PUC (South Dakota Public Utilities Commission) is going to make their decision and that’s it. But I think if residents come to the (county) commission and don’t want this — or want it — but I think we have to represent everybody as best as we can. But I don’t like to say no for an answer — that we don’t have a voice. At least the PUC will know that maybe this isn’t the best for Brookings County.”
Incumbent Brookings County Commissioner Kelly VanderWal… “The 765-kv proposed line, it’s a proposed line at this time. There are, I’m all about property rights. Every individual should have their own property rights. The thing you need to think about and ask ourselves once in a while is what if — what if this Interstate that was proposed back when didn’t happen? Our county would look a lot different.”
Three four-year seats on the Brookings County Commission are up for grabs. Election day is November 3.
— Brookings Radio News
