Xcel Energy’s High-Voltage Upgrade Brings Helicopters to Coon Rapids Parks as Grid Modernization Accelerates

Coon Rapids, MN

In the coming days, the steady rhythm of late winter in Coon Rapids will be punctuated by the thrum of rotor blades.

Helicopters are scheduled to land in four city parks as Xcel Energy begins an extensive maintenance operation on one of the region’s most critical transmission corridors: a 345-kilovolt line stretching roughly 35 miles from the Sherco Power Plant in Becker to the Coon Creek Substation.

The work, confirmed by the City of Coon Rapids in a public notice, focuses on replacing the line’s shield wires, the non-energized cables mounted at the very top of transmission towers. Though they carry no electricity to homes or businesses, shield wires play a crucial protective role. They intercept lightning strikes before they can reach the energized conductors below and often serve as a communications pathway for grid monitoring systems.

It is maintenance that most residents would never see, if not for the helicopters.

Why the Air Matters

High-voltage transmission lines are the arterial highways of the electric grid. At 345 kV, the Sherco-to-Coon Creek corridor is designed to move large volumes of electricity across long distances with minimal loss, feeding substations that distribute power throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Replacing shield wire on such a corridor is not a simple matter of sending a truck and a ladder.

According to industry practice and prior Xcel Energy maintenance projects, helicopters are used for several reasons:

• Efficiency: Aircraft can string new wire across multiple spans in hours rather than days, reducing the total duration of field operations.
• Reduced Ground Impact: Aerial access limits the need for heavy machinery in wetlands, wooded areas, and residential easements, reducing soil compaction and potential property disturbance.
• Precision Access: Specialized crews can be positioned directly atop transmission structures that are inaccessible to standard bucket trucks.

The City of Coon Rapids states the project will be completed within the existing easement and is expected to wrap up by early summer 2026. Affected landowners have been notified by mail, and Xcel Energy has indicated it will restore any minor property damage that may occur during construction.

Where Helicopters Will Land

To facilitate staging and refueling, the city has authorized temporary helicopter landing zones in four municipal parks:

• March 2–6
  Al Flynn Park
  Southeast corner of the parking lot
  1351 100th Ln.
• March 9–13
  Erlandson Park
  Southeast corner of the parking lot
  1105 Egret Blvd.
• March 9–13
  Sand Creek Park
  Southwest corner of the parking lot
  1008 Northdale Blvd.
• March 9–13
  Wilderness Park
  West side of the walkway
  1300 Main St.

Residents near those locations can expect intermittent low-flying aircraft, equipment staging, and temporary noise during the scheduled windows. City officials have provided a contact for questions related to the project.

A Line at the Center of Transition

The maintenance arrives at a pivotal moment for the Sherco site itself.

For decades, the Sherco Generating Station in Becker operated as one of the Upper Midwest’s largest coal-fired power plants. Xcel Energy has committed to retiring its coal units at Sherco as part of its broader decarbonization strategy, transforming the location into what the company now calls the Sherco Energy Hub.

That transformation includes:

• The Sherco Solar project, among the largest solar installations in the United States.
• The Minnesota Energy Connection, a proposed 175-mile transmission line designed to bring wind energy from southwest Minnesota to the Sherco interconnection point.

As these renewable resources come online, the existing high-voltage backbone must be capable of reliably transmitting new generation into the metropolitan load center. The 345 kV corridor between Becker and Coon Rapids is part of that backbone.

Shield wire replacement, then, is not cosmetic maintenance. It is preventative reinforcement, ensuring the line can withstand lightning events and continue operating under evolving load conditions as energy flows shift from coal combustion to solar arrays and wind turbines.

The Grid Above the Trees

For most residents, transmission lines fade into the background, tall steel silhouettes along highways and river corridors. Yet they are the invisible architecture of modern life, enabling everything from home heating to hospital equipment.

In Coon Rapids this month, that infrastructure will briefly step into view.

The sound overhead will signal more than routine repair. It will mark a moment in the region’s ongoing energy transition, where aging coal facilities give way to renewable generation and the steel lattice towers that once carried fossil-fueled power are reinforced to carry something different.

For a few days in March, the grid will not be abstract.

It will land in the parking lot.

MinneapoliMedia