Official Calls For Line Construction To Stop

The director of Citizens Utility Board – an electric rate-payer interest group in Wisconsin – wants construction stopped on the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line. In a letter, Thomas Content wrote to the state’s Public Service Commission, asking them to rescind approval of the nearly $500-million dollar project. The more than 100-mile long high voltage line would stretch from Dubuque to Dane County. A judge put a portion of that project on hold while a legal battle is underway regarding the line crossing federally-protected lands near Cassville. The companies behind the prorject – American Transmission Company, ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative – have continued to build the line in areas not effected by the judge’s ruling. In his letter, Content argues the utilities are building a bridge to nowhere. So far, more than $160-million dollars has been spent in construction costs.