The grid to nowhere

 

Join elected officials, business and community leaders, landowners, energy activists and electric customers from across WisconsinIn and the Midwest in sending a clear message to Wisconsin Public Service Commission. Citizens are given one, last opportunity to appeal to the persons who will be deciding the high voltage transmission line case this September after four, long years of research, coalition-building and community outreach.  There is a choice between testifying in person at one of three public hearings or filing written comments on the PSC's website.

ONLINE PSC COMMENTS ACCEPTED NOW THROUGH JUNE 28TH 

  bit.ly/CHC_ePortal

For submitting brief written comments, consider these tips. 

Persons making in-person, verbal testimony can expect 3-5 minutes to state their positions founded on personal experience and facts established by expert witnesses from utilities, Public Service Commission Staff and opposing intervention groups SOUL of Wisconsin,  Environmental Law and Policy Center, The Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, several municipal and county governments and a record number citizen intervenors. A list of all parties and links to their testimony is available here. 

A summary of the reasons the project is ill advised and descriptions of better alternatives can be found in this document with speaking suggestions.


Brief Account of Party Hearings
June 17 to June 22

The Cardinal Hickory Creek case before the Commission is distinguished from prior transmission line cases by a much greater counter evaluation by PSC staff. Staff conducted extensive economic and reliability analysis finding serious shortfalls in the transmission builders estimated benefits.  In Wisconsin, transmission builders slated the $628 million 345 kV high capacity transmission facility to be routed along side about seven, aging low voltage transmission lines already scheduled for rebuilding in the coming decade. When PSC staff determined that rebuilding these existing transmission lines would cause their power carrying abilities of these lines to double, and new, renewable energy generation was introduced into the project area, staff created a new alternative for the Project on their accord. That Alternative, named the Base With Asset Renewal Alternative (BWARA)  assumes that the low voltage transmission rebuilds will be done in coming years avoiding the need to install the much bigger line with numerous environmental and economic downsides and greater costs.  Staff also found that the proposed CHC transmission line would  fail to provide net benefits to ratepayers in 8 of 11 future scenarios. Regional utilities (MISO) and Applicants touted benefits for ratepayers outside of Wisconsin but PSC staff found these claims to be significantly exaggerated. 

  In contrast to the $628 million cost of the expansion line, the upgrades in BWARA are estimated to cost only $1 million.  Opposition expert witnesses including Bill Powers on behalf of SOUL of Wisconsin presented such strong arguments for Non Transmission Alternatives using solar and battery storage  that Applicants were forced to hire an NTA specialist to create over priced comparable.   

 
Witness Bill Powers estimated that the potential economic benefits from Cardinal Hickory Creek would amount to only pennies per month  for Wisconsin residential customers on average.  Applicants vociferously criticized this estimate but failed to prove it to be in error.

A record number of citizen Public Intervenors shed light on utility and commission policies throughout the party hearings which concluded the week before the scheduled public hearings. Of particular note were their exhaustive critiques of inadequate easement vegetation management practices  and applied pressure on both applicants and the commission to provide greater ratepayer accountability.

There is no doubt that CHC proceeding has substantially transformed the way expansion transmission lines are likely to be reviewed in Wisconsin going forward.

 

 

New Petition
Stop Utility Abuse of Property Rights in Wisconsin

TRANSMISSION BUILDERS TARGET MORE, HIGH PROFILE Transmission Lines for

NORTHERN WISCONSIN 

See map on pdf p. 41 of the PSC's newly released Strategic Energy Assessment and more information here (pdf p.28) Now is the time to protect your community with adoption of resolutions and informing your elected local and state officials. Contact the Energy Planning and Information Committee of the Town of Stark for more information and assistance.

Are You Fully Exploiting the Powers of your Household?

Discover clever, low-cost ways to become a 21st Century Load Defector to save money, slash emissions and live with cleaner conscience. 

 If your household electric bill is greater than 700 kilowatt hours, per month, it's likely you can make significant improvements. Learn more about the energy and emission savings tips and email SOUL for your personalized, online tracking sheet to record your monthly progress. See CONTEST  tor households tracking use frm  May 2017 to May 2018. .