Towering transmission line in western Wisconsin sparks questions over need and nearly half-billion-dollar cost

The developers of a controversial power line through southwestern Wisconsin said Friday their preferred route would cost $492 million, a project that would add to a growing inventory of transmission lines across the Midwest. 

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Pewaukee-based American Transmission Co. and its partners filed their construction plans with state regulators and said the project would provide more capacity to move bulk loads of electricity and provide better access to wind and solar farms.

But the Cardinal-Hickory Creek power line faces challenges from opposition groups that say the big new line isn’t needed in an era of tepid electric demand.

Opponents also object to construction on environmental and aesthetic grounds: The towers supporting the line will reach a height of 175 feet in the hilly, picturesque Driftless region.

The line would run about 125 miles from west of Madison to Dubuque County in Iowa. If approved, the project is expected to go online in 2023.

Wisconsin residents' share of the cost of the preferred route would be $66 million.  

That route would follow Highway 18 past Dodgeville to Montfort in northern Grant County, then move southwest along an existing transmission corridor to Cassville on the Mississippi River. 

An alternative route would cost $543 million, according to documents filed with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.

The three-member PSC — all appointees of Republican Gov. Scott Walker — must approve the line recommended by ATC and partners ITC Midwest of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Dairyland Power Cooperative of La Crosse.

Iowa and federal regulators must also review the project.

Cardinal-Hickory Creek has been in the planning stages for years and would be the third large-scale line in southern Wisconsin since 2015 — activity that underscores the building boom on electric grids in the Midwest. 

The two other lines: Badger Coulee between La Crosse and Madison is expected to be finished by the end of the year. Also, CapX2020 runs from La Crosse to Alma and connects to systems in Minnesota.

ATC says with added transmission lines, utilities can tap renewable power sources such as wind farms in Iowa. 

As utilities shut down power plants, the industry needs a more robust transmission system to buy and move cheaper power from other providers, said ATC spokesman Kaya Freiman.

“The energy landscaping is changing,” she said. 

Groups backing renewable energy have also supported construction of more lines because it allows utilities to shut down coal-fired power plants and lower their carbon emissions. 

But Rob Danielson of Save Our Unique Lands of Wisconsin said the power industry is promoting an expensive option that rewards companies like ATC with new revenue as the demand for electricity use slows. 

The PSC reported in 2016 that annual electric use in Wisconsin was expected to grow by 0.5% to 1.6% a year until 2022.

"We have a lot of concerns, and the obvious one is that energy demand is flat," Danielson said. "And all of this building hasn't helped the consumer." 

Wisconsin has the second highest residential electric rates in the Midwest and the 13th highest nationally, according to the U.S Energy Information Administration. 

On the consumer front, the Citizens Utility Board will be asking whether the new line is needed.

"Our question is what is the benefit and are there alternatives at a time of rapidly changing technology?" said Thomas Content, CUB's executive director.