Xcel Energy has notified state regulators of plans to build part of a new power transmission line in North Dakota, although its final route in the state hasn't been determined.

North Dakota's Public Service Commission agreed Friday to allow Xcel, which provides electricity to Fargo, West Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot, to shorten the amount of time it must wait to apply for the power line's North Dakota location.

Xcel is part of a group of utilities seeking to build four new transmission lines in Minnesota. One would run about 250 miles from a Fargo substation to Monticello, Minn.

The Fargo line, and a separate power line from Bemidji to Grand Rapids in Minnesota, "will provide much-needed transmission support to the Red River Valley in eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota," Darrin Lahr, an Xcel siting supervisor, said in a letter to the commission.

Susan Wefald, the PSC's president, said the utilities have not yet established the power line's North Dakota route. The line could stretch about 50 miles in North Dakota, or only a few miles if the power line crosses into the state from Moorhead, Minn., Wefald said.

- Associated Press