OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Public Power District plans to begin public hearings next month in each county along the route of its recently approved 345,000-vote transmission line through the Nebraska Sandhills.

District spokesman Mark Becker said Monday that at the hearings, district officials will explain the need for the transmission line and gather more information on routing. The district wants to finish the work in 2018. The Nebraska Power Review Board on Friday approved the $328 million project.

The district says the project is needed to increase reliability of the transmission network, relieve congestion and provide more capacity to carry electricity from wind turbines in remote parts of the state.

Ranchers and others spoke in opposition Friday, saying the 220-mile line posed a threat to the Sandhills’ fragile ecosystem of grasses and dunes.