The CU Project Controversy involved years of protest against a proposed high-voltage direct current powerline that was erected on the property of hundreds of farmers in west central Minnesota in the late 1970s. The electrical cooperatives Cooperative Power Association (CPA) and United Power Association (UPA) proposed construction of the powerline, which was part of a larger construction project that also involved the construction of an electrical generating station and coal mine. CU is a combination of the names Cooperative Power Association and United Power Association. Opposition to the powerline began in 1974 and involved political parties, churches, civic organizations, and businesses in several different Minnesota counties. Farmers were concerned that construction of the powerline on