Opponents speaking out about new proposed High Voltage Power line to La Crosse (WKBT TV)

Posted on | July 28, 2010 | No Comments

Transcript of video from WKBT TV8 in La Crosse, WI:

Plans are on the table to build a new high-voltage power line that would link Madison to La Crosse. But like other proposed power line projects in the Midwest, this one is creating some controversy.

Wisconsin based American Transmission Company is looking to build what would be known as the “Badger Coulee Transmission Line.”

Company officials say the 345-thousand volt power line would boost the reliability of the state’s electric system, provide savings for utilities and energy customers, support renewable energy and improve access to wind power.

You might remember, the CapX2020 project in Minnesota that involves building transmission lines that would reach from the Twin Cities to La Crosse.

A spokesperson for CapX says while transmission lines aren’t popular, they’re needed to meet future demand. “They really need this Wisconsin line, this La Crosse to Madison, if you’re going to move all this additional electricity generation that’s created by all these wind farms,” says Tim Carlsgaard from CapX2020.

Citizens Energy Task Force is one group that’s against both the Badger Coulee Transmission Line and the CapX2020 project.

Members are questioning what the benefits of a high-voltage power line would be and who will pay for it. They also say the lines are a bad idea for our energy future.  ”The newer technologies of having solar and wind and various renewables including our friend coal, who’ve been using for many years. It’s cheap electricity. These things can be mixed together at local points and used and distributed locally, using new power grids much, much smaller. Much less expensive and much more efficiently,” says Citizen’s Energy Taskforce Member Jeremy Chipps.

If approved, the La Crosse to Madison power line would be built by 2018.

Watch the video and add your comments!

High-voltage power line would link Madison, La Crosse

Posted on | July 26, 2010 | No Comments

Thomas Content blogged at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

American Transmission Co. announced Monday that it will seek to build a 345,000-volt power line linking Madison and La Crosse, with the cost of the project tentatively pegged at $425 million.

The Pewaukee-based power company says two years of study have shown that a 150-mile line would boost electric system reliability, savings for utilities buying power in the Midwest wholesale power market and improve access to wind power generated west of Wisconsin.

No route has yet been selected and the company will spend the next two years exploring routing alternatives in the corridor shown above. A detailed cost estimate will be available once potential routes for the line are selected, said ATC spokeswoman Anne Spaltholz.

The company will host open houses with the public and stakeholders beginning this fall to explore routing choices, she said.

The line, which has been given the name Badger Coulee Transmission Line, is expected to offset the need for about $140 million in lower-voltage upgrades in western Wisconsin communities, ATC said, citing its own studies.

ATC is a transmission-line company that is owned primarily by the local electric utilities in eastern Wisconsin.

Details about the location and cost of the line will be announced when ATC submits a formal application for the line to the state Public Service Commission in 2013. At that time, the company will submit detailed routing information about two alternatives for the commission to consider.

If approved, the line would be built by 2018.

The 345,000-volt line would be a tie-in linking up the new 345,000-volt line that is under construction around Madison, and a line proposed by Xcel Energy and other utilities that is projected to cross Minnesota and connect to Wisconsin near La Crosse.

“There are multiple benefit indicators that make the Badger Coulee Transmission Line Project a plus for Wisconsin residents and the Midwest,” says John Procario, ATC chairman and chief executive said in a statement. “It’s an exciting new project because it demonstrates multiple benefits. Badger Coulee enhances electric system reliability; it provides direct energy cost savings to electricity users, and it supports the public’s desire for the greater use of renewable energy resources.”

I’ll have more about the project on JSOnline and in Tuesday’s Journal Sentinel.

MINNESOTA COURT OF APPEALS: JUDGES RULE IN FAVOR OF CAPX2020 POWER LINE UTILITIES

Posted on | June 9, 2010 | No Comments

ST. PAUL, MN. June 8, 2010— The Minnesota Court of Appeals announced today a ruling in favor of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) on the challenge of the MPUC by Citizens Energy Task Force (CETF) and UCAN, who argued that demand forecasts have dropped, that the CapX2020 ultra high power lines are not needed and that other feasible alternatives would create less environmental harm. CapX2020 utilities (Xcel Energy, Great River Energy, Dairyland Power and 8 others) will be allowed to continue their plan for 600 miles of ultra high voltage power lines from North Dakota and South Dakota running through Minnesota to Wisconsin. The CapX2020 power lines would cost nearly $2 billion and be constructed on steel towers up to 170 feet tall, equivalent to a 15-story building.  Details on the appeal submitted by CETF and UCAN are available by clicking here.

“I regret that the Court did not take a stronger position to protect the environment and the future of energy in Minnesota and neighboring states,” stated Paula Maccabee, attorney for Citizens Energy Task Force.

Although they didn’t prevail today in the Minnesota Court of Appeals, citizens will continue to challenge the need for CapX2020 and to suggest local generation and transmission alternatives with less environmental impact. CETF’s attorney has also submitted comments to the MPUC regarding the utilities’ request to push back the start date of the Brookings Line. The utilities have admitted that there is no financial plan to pay for this expensive Project. By 2015, their new proposed date, the data used to determine regional need will be a decade old.

People in Minnesota and Wisconsin concerned about protecting the Wildlife Refuge and scenic Mississippi as well as our energy future will have additional opportunities to challenge the CapX2020 projects in Wisconsin proceedings and the federal environmental review process currently underway. There are alternatives based on local transmission and generation that would prevent this environmental harm and keep the lights on at lower cost.

A community educational effort of CETF is working to inform citizens of MN and WI about the importance of an energy future that involves local, clean renewable energy.

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Utilities Want Power Line Delayed

Posted on | May 27, 2010 | No Comments

Here’s the lede:

A controversial high-voltage power line across southern Minnesota to the metro area now faces a two-year delay as regulators decide who will pay for the $700 million-plus price tag.  The utilities developing the 240-mile power line have asked state utility regulators to move the date for the Brookings transmission line to become operational from 2013 to 2015, citing “considerable uncertainty” about the tariff structure they’ll be allowed to use to recover development and construction costs

The article also states that CETF is appealing to re-evaluate the need for CapX2020.  The article is short.  Read it here.

CapX2020 Utilities Request Delay; CETF Asking MPUC to Cease Project

Posted on | May 27, 2010 | No Comments

The Brookings CapX2020 Project (high voltage power lines from South Dakota to the Twin Cities) is floundering due to controversy at the federal level as to how it will be funded. On May 17, 2010, eleven CapX2020 utilities, including Xcel Energy, filed a request to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to push back the in-service date of the project from 2012 to 2015. This proposed delay in the Brookings CapX2020 Project would mean the power line would go into service eight years after the Application was filed for the Project and eleven years after the only study that was done finding a regional need for the CapX2020 projects. Citizens groups including Citizens Energy Task Force (www.cetf.us) have long questioned the need for CapX2020, criticized reliance on out-of-date information about energy demand, argued that the CapX2020 projects are overly costly to citizens, and would impair protected wildlife areas.

The CapX2020 utilities are now requesting delay in the Brookings Project since there is no agreement about who would pay for this expensive ($700 to $750 million in 2007 dollars) high voltage power line. Since the transmission review authorities (MISO) have determined that the project is not needed for regional reliability, usual rules at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission would place half the burden of funding this project on developers, such as wind farms. The huge cost of this project could prevent rather than facilitate wind development under this standard cost allocation.

Stated Paula Maccabee, attorney for CETF, “By 2015, the utilities’ new proposed in-service date, the forecast of regional energy demand studied to justify the Brookings CapX2020 project would be over a decade out-of-date. The Commission should re-open the question of need and re-examine the high cost of the CapX2020 projects rather than approving the utilities’ request for delay of the power line from South Dakota to the Twin Cities.”

Efforts to find another way to pay for the Brookings CapX2020 Project have been unsuccessful, as the utilities explained in their filing to the MPUC:

“The MISO Tariff structure applicable to the Brookings Project is in transition and has been the subject of contested proceedings at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.”

“Applicants and many other stakeholders have been working diligently with MISO on developing a consensus approach to cost allocation for major new infrastructure projects like the Brookings Project. The process has prompted a vigorous debate and it is unclear whether or when consensus will be reached.”

“This situation has left Applicants and the other potential owners of the Brookings Project with considerable uncertainty about the actual cost allocation methodology that will apply to their investment in the Brookings Project.”

At the end of April, the MPUC denied the CapX2020 utilities the ability to get money from ratepayers now to pay for the Brookings project due to the uncertainty about cost recovery. With no end to the controversy in sight and no sure way to recover their investment, the utilities have asked to delay the in-service date of the project until 2015. Under Minnesota law, utilities need to get Commission approval if they want to delay a certificate of need by more than one year.

CETF and United Citizens Action Network have also appealed the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s decision to approve certificates of need for the CapX2020 power lines. This appeal is still pending at the Minnesota Court of Appeals.  Details on the appeal available by clicking here.

Eminent Domain Changes Signed into Law!

Posted on | May 4, 2010 | No Comments

Yesterday Gov. Pawlenty signed House File #1182 into law.  Here is the link to full details on Rep. David Bly’s blog:  http://davidbly.com/.

Thanks to Rep. David Bly and Senator Kevin Dahle for their dedicated efforts to create a more level playing field for property owners all over Minnesota; removing the exemptions for utilities from Minnesota’s protective eminent domain process where condemnation is being sought for transmission lines and pipelines.

Two CapX2020 articles featured on Minneapolis Star Tribune

Posted on | April 11, 2010 | No Comments

Read them here:

mammoth-powerline-strib-2010-04-11

powering-up-strib-2010-04-10

MPR and USA Today cover appeal of CapX Certificate of Need

Posted on | March 18, 2010 | No Comments

St. Paul, Minn. — The Minnesota Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Wednesday over a transmission project that three citizens’ groups are trying to block.

The Citizens Energy Task Force, No CapX2020 and the United Citizens Action Network are appealing the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s decision last year to grant certificates of need for the three transmission lines that are part of the CapX2020 project. …

The story is at MPRNewsQ, and was also picked up by USA Today.

MINNESOTA COURT OF APPEALS WILL HEAR CHALLENGE TO CAPX2020 HIGH VOLTAGE POWER LINES ON MARCH 17

Posted on | March 15, 2010 | No Comments

The Minnesota Court of Appeals will hear arguments Wednesday March 17 at 9:30 a.m. in the Minnesota Judicial Center in St. Paul challenging the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (Commission) decision last August to approve certificates of need for the CapX2020 power lines. The CapX2020 power lines certified by the Commission are 600 miles of ultra high voltage power lines from North Dakota and South Dakota running through Minnesota to Wisconsin. They will cost ratepayers nearly $2 billion and be constructed on steel towers up to 170 feet tall, equivalent to a 15-story building.

Citizens Energy Task Force (www.cetf.us) and UCAN have argued that demand forecasts have dropped and that the CapX2020 ultra high power lines are not needed. The La Crosse portion of the line, in particular, would cause harm to critical natural resources, including the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and Minnesota’s Great River Road National Scenic Byway that local and lower voltage transmission alternatives would avoid. [Details on the appeal available by clicking here].

The Court of Appeals will be asked to require that the Commission reopen the record to hear new evidence of the drop in electricity demand and to overturn the decision to approve certificates of need for the CapX2020 projects as a whole and for the La Crosse power line, in particular.

The utilities’ claim that the CapX2020 power lines are needed to support regional energy demand was based on out-of-date studies assuming annual growth in demand of 2.49 percent a year. New Minnesota laws requiring conservation as well as evidence of the drop in energy use and drop in Xcel Energy forecasts through 2020 make these predictions invalid. Any reasonable forecast puts regional electric demand far below the levels studied to justify the CapX2020 projects.

“Minnesota certificate of need law was written so that facts should matter. Based on actual energy use declines and current forecasts, the Court should require the Commission to reopen the record and reconsider their approval–to ensure that ratepayers don’t pay $2 billion for huge power lines that are not needed,” explained Citizens Energy Task Force attorney Paula Maccabee.

Continued Maccabee, “The La Crosse power line, in particular, would cause serious environmental harm to a critical national Wildlife Refuge and Scenic Byways. Smaller more local improvements to the electric system are a feasible alternative to keep the lights on with less environmental harm and lower magnetic fields than the ultra high voltage CapX2020 projects.”

A nationally-recognized expert on the health impacts of high voltage power lines recently testified in Minnesota that magnetic fields generated by high voltage power lines are associated with serious health problems. Dr. David Carpenter–a public health physician trained at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment (State University of New York at Albany) detailed startling connections between these magnetic fields and childhood leukemia, Alzheimer’s disease and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Dr. Carpenter’s complete testimony is available by clicking here.

In January, the CapX2020 utilities filed their application for a permit to construct a 345 kV power line from Rochester, Minnesota to La Crosse, Wisconsin. This ultra high voltage power line would cross Minnesota’s Great River Road National Scenic Byway and would run through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. Even though the utilities are required by Minnesota law to have at least one alternative, they have provided no alternate route across the Mississippi River and no alternative that would avoid the National Wildlife Refuge.

After crossing the Mississippi River, the CapX2020 power line is proposed to connect at Alma, Wisconsin and would either travel South along the River Road (Hwy 53) to Holmen, and La Crosse WI or extend due east from Alma to Arcadia, and then divert south through Blair, Galesville and Holmen to La Crosse.

Beyond La Crosse, the American Transmission Corporation has announced a proposal to connect another ultra high voltage power line from La Crosse to Madison. CETF and UCAN believe that the CapX2020 power lines are being built to export electricity, including coal power from the Dakotas, across Minnesota to Chicago and other points east as well as to serve Minnesota load.

A community educational effort has been launched to inform citizens of MN and WI about the importance of an energy future that involves local, clean renewable energy. Read more at: www.powerlinetruth.org

CAPX2020 UTILITIES ANNOUNCE RIVER CROSSING THROUGH WILDLIFE REFUGE; CITIZENS GROUP CHALLENGES NEED FOR HIGH VOLTAGE POWER LINE

Posted on | February 16, 2010 | No Comments

A proposed ultra high voltage power line would cross Minnesota’s Great River Road National Scenic Byway and would run through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. Even though the utilities are required by Minnesota law to have at least one alternative, they have provided no alternate route across the Mississippi River and no alternative that would avoid the National Wildlife Refuge.

<sigh> But we continue to fight!  Read the rest of the media release here.