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SOUL and Clean Wisconsin Appeal the Public Service Commission’s Approval of the Arrowhead-Weston Transmission Line
Contacts:
Save Our Unique Lands (SOUL) and Clean Wisconsin filed their appeal of the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) approval of the Arrowhead-Weston transmission line yesterday in Dane County Circuit Court. The PSC originally approved the Arrowhead-Weston line for $161 million in October 2001 and re-approved the project in December 2003 for $420 million. The $420 million Arrowhead-Weston project is not a reasonable solution to meeting Wisconsin’s reliability needs. SOUL and Clean Wisconsin are seeking to overturn the decision based on the PSC’s failure to prepare a supplement to the environmental impact statement (EIS). The EIS, which is to provide the PSC with current information so that it can review the environmental, social and economic impacts of various alternatives, was completed in October 2000. Since that date, there have been significant changes that affect the reasonableness of the Arrowhead-Weston line, including the addition of two substations, a proposed underground crossing of the Namekagon River, the inclusion of farm disease mitigation measures, and the addition of increased in-state generation approved by the Commission. Given the more than doubling of the cost of the Arrowhead-Weston transmission line, the PSC should have selected a lower cost alternative.
"The PSC has allowed the utilities to take over as the decision-makers in this state." - Tom Kraeger, SOUL President
Additionally, SOUL and Clean Wisconsin seek to overturn the PSC’s decision because it erred in its interpretation of the energy priorities law, which requires conservation and renewable resources to replace new transmission lines to the extent possible. Finally, the PSC’s decision allows the utilities permission to access the properties of affected landowners for condemnation purposes before the DNR issues its permits. This interpretation is contrary to the applicable state law. As Tom Kreager, president of SOUL, stated, "The PSC has allowed the utilities to take over as the decision-makers in this state and, as would any for-profit entity, they decided that they should be allowed to build the transmission alternative that ensures them the most profits." He added, "and they will be doing that at the expenses of ratepayers in this state without regard for environmental harm." Counsel for SOUL, Pam McGillivray, commented, "The PSC erred by failing to reexamine the Arrowhead-Weston line as a new construction application given the more than doubling of cost. The PSC did not develop an adequate record since the 2000 proceedings and its decision to approve the $420 Arrowhead-Weston line is not reasonable." |
