Wisconsin state regulators properly approved a 180-mile, 345-kV transmission line being developed by American Transmission Co. LLC and Xcel Energy Inc. subsidiary Northern States Power Co. - Wisconsin, according to a state appeals court.
The District IV Court of Appeals on May 30 affirmed a lower court's findings that the Wisconsin Public Service Commission properly determined that construction of the Badger-Coulee transmission line is necessary and that the environmental review of the project was sufficient. The appeals court also agreed with the commission's decision on routing a seven-mile portion of the line in La Crosse County, Wis.
The $580 million transmission line approved by the commission in 2015 is being built to ensure electric reliability for communities in western Wisconsin and improve access to lower-cost and renewable energy. The town of Holland, Wis., opposed the project and challenged the commission's approval to the La Crosse County Circuit Court.
The circuit court eventually affirmed the commission's determination that the line was needed to provide an adequate supply of electricity to the La Crosse area and rejected the town's assertion that the environmental impact statement for the project was legally insufficient. The circuit court also found that the commission did not provide a rational basis for deciding against using an existing transmission line for a seven-mile portion of the project in Holland and remanded that issue for re-evaluation.
But in addition to agreeing with the circuit court's findings regarding the need for the project and the sufficiency of the environmental impact statement, the appeals disagreed that the commission failed to provide a rational basis for the routing decision and reversed the circuit court's order to remand that issue.
American Transmission Co., or ATC, spokeswoman Kaya Freiman said the developers still plan to meet an expected in-service date of late 2018 for the project. "We had always believed that the PSC's determination was the correct determination," she said.
The line will run between Xcel Energy's new Briggs Road substation near Holmen, Wis., and ATC's North Madison substation in Vienna, Wis., before continuing to ATC's Cardinal substation in Middleton, Wis.
Dairyland Power Cooperative, Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency and WPPI Energy also own the portion of the project between the Briggs Road and North Madison substations.
