By Steve Prestegard
editor@theplattevillejournal.com
PLATTEVILLE — The developers of the proposed Cardinal-Hickory Creek project are appealing a federal court decision banning the power transmission line from crossing the Mississippi River.
American Transmission Co., ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative want the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to stay the district court order and then hear the case.
The news release said the utilities “fully complied with the National Environmental Policy Act,” and that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has “multiple sources of authority to allow the project to cross” the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge “with appropriate environmental conditions.”
U.S. District Judge William Conley’s ruling Nov. 1 stopped work in more than 100 federally protected wetlands, including the crossing at the Mississippi River.
Conley then ruled Jan. 14 in favor of four conservation groups that the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service’s environmental review of the project was inadequate.
“The federal court’s ruling is another example of the mistaken sentiment that the project is detrimental to the environment,” said ITC Midwest president Dusky Terry. “In actuality, the Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line Project is the essential bridge that enables renewable energy to be brought to market, resulting in a significant reduction in carbon emissions.
“There is no alternative to electric transmission to economically move power from where it is being generated to the electric consumers who need it. None of the other alternatives — such as battery storage or energy efficiency programs — accomplish that. In fact, distributed generation requires more transmission capacity, not less.”
“Following years of study and extensive environmental review, including years of public input, state and federal regulatory agencies granted approvals for this project based on the benefits it provides,” said ATC Director of Construction Sarah Justus. “The Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line will help ensure the cost-effective, renewable and reliable energy that consumers are seeking is available and affordable.”
Justus said the Midwest Independent System Operator and regulators in Wisconsin and Iowa “have determined the project is necessary to reduce energy costs.”
“The Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line Project is an essential 345-kilovolt backbone interconnection that will provide a vital link to the future of our region’s renewable energy developments,” said Dairyland Power chief operating officer Ben Porath. “Its construction and operability will reduce energy costs, improve the reliability and flexibility of the region’s transmission system, and support the interconnection of renewable generation in the Upper Midwest.”
The news release said construction is continuing on the 101-mile-long project.
Conley called the USFWS’ decision to grant the project right of way through the refuge “arbitrary and capricious” and ruled that the power line is not compatible with the mission of the wildlife refuge.
The federal lawsuit was filed in February 2021 by Driftless Area Land Conservancy, the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, Defenders of Wildlife and the National Wildlife Refuge Association. The lawsuit contends that the project would harm the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, through which the power lines would cross, in addition to Southwest Wisconsin’s Driftless Area.
A final published decision on Conley’s Jan. 14 ruling has not been released yet.
The Citizens Utility Board wants work stopped on the project in light of Conley’s decision and other court actions.
“The order issued by Judge Conley is clear: CHC does not have legal authority to cross the Mississippi River,” CUB said in a letter to the state Public Service Commission. “The project can no longer be built as proposed and approved by the commission. The utilities have full knowledge of this yet ‘continue to clear the path for the CHC line up to the Refuge from both the Iowa and Wisconsin sides.’ In short, the utilities are knowingly building a bridge to nowhere.”
CUB claims that the utilities have already spent $94.35 million on work on the Wisconsin part of the $492 million project.
The developers issued a statement after Conley’s Nov. 1 decision that his decision only applies to a 15.56-acre area along the 87-mile Wisconsin segment. ”The co-owners had voluntarily agreed to avoid construction in these wetlands until Nov. 29 as a showing of good faith and cooperation to the Court and other parties,” the statement said. “The utilities can continue project construction in Wisconsin in areas not affected by the preliminary injunction.”
In the state courts, the state Supreme Court ruled Nov. 8 against a request by the power line’s developers to overturn a lower court ruling that said that opponents could get an injunction stopping work if they could secure $32 million in bonding, the estimated cost to developers of stopping the project.
Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost ruled Oct. 18 that opponents seeking the injunction to stop the project would be entitled to have the injunction granted if they could post $32 million in two bonds — an amount equivalent to what stopping the project would cost the developers.
Other lawsuits against the project include a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate the Public Service Commission’s unanimous approval of the project two years ago over an accusation of a conflict of interest with then-PSC commissioner Michael Huebsch, who engaged in encrypted communications with employees of one of the developers.
CHC’s developers claim support from Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., NERA Economic Consulting, Renew Wisconsin, WPPI Energy, Allete Clean Energy, Pattern Energy (the developer of the proposed Uplands Wind wind farm in Lafayette and Iowa counties), Midcontinent Independent System Operator, American Clean Power, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Clean Grid Alliance, EDF Renewables, and the owners of the Badger Hollow Solar Farm project, Madison Gas & Electric, Wisconsin Public Service Corp. and WEC Energy Group.
“We have been waiting for — and needing — this line for over 10 years,” said Beth Soholt, executive director of the Clean Grid Alliance. “With 114 generation projects, including 108 totaling more than 17 gigawatts of renewable generation that are dependent on its construction (including 1.5 gigawatts of renewable generation from Wisconsin), the line is needed more than ever. Cardinal—Hickory Creek has undergone exhaustive study and review by all the required agencies. This unnecessary litigation is holding up the delivery of clean, low-cost renewable energy in Wisconsin and across the Midwest. There are four proposed wind projects totaling nearly 900 megawatts and another 300 megawatt solar project that are dependent upon the completion of this line, just in Wisconsin.
“While this project is currently on track to be completed by December 2023, any further delays, or if this project does not move forward, energy consumers will ultimately pay the price through the loss of millions of dollars in jobs and economic benefits the project is expected to deliver over its 40-year life. We cannot stand in the way of delivering the clean energy future the country demands. Cardinal—Hickory Creek provides a critical backbone for the clean energy transition in Wisconsin and the Midwest.”
Work on the Wisconsin side started with vegetation removal in Dane County Nov. 1, with work on the project in Grant and Iowa counties scheduled to start in the next few weeks along existing transmission lines and highway corridors and avoiding disputed wetlands.
ATC is building the eastern part of the project from the Cardinal Substation in the Town of Middleton to the future Hill Valley Substation in Montfort. ITC Midwest will build the western half of the project from the Hill Valley Substation to the Nelson Dewey Substation north of Cassville.
In Southwest Wisconsin, the project starts at the Nelson Dewey Substation near Cassville and goes near the U.S. 61/Wisconsin 81/Wisconsin 129 south intersection in Lancaster, heads northeast to the new substation in Montfort, then roughly follows U.S. 18 to Dodgeville and U.S. 18/151 around Mount Horeb before going northeast to the Cardinal substation.
The project is expected to be online in December 2023, assuming it survives court challenges.