Petition To Prevent ATC’s Grid Forward Central Wisconsin Project
Petition To Prevent ATC’s Grid Forward Central Wisconsin Project
The Issue
PETITION TO PREVENT AMERICAN TRANSMISSION COMPANY’S (ATC) GRID FORWARD CENTRAL WISCONSIN PROJECT, 345-kV HIGH VOLTAGE TRANSMISSION LINE
TO GOVERNOR TONY EVERS, PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF WISCONSIN (PSCW) AND ATC
We the undersigned landowners, land users, and U.S. citizens (We the People) oppose and find it unreasonable, unnecessary, destructive, and illegitimate for AMERICAN TRANSMISSION COMPANY (ATC) to replace approximately 160 miles of an existing 138-kV high voltage transmission line with a 345-kV high voltage transmission line for and including the below reasons, supplemented with more details in the included petition justification document. We request that PSCW not approve and that ATC abandon this project.
1.First and foremost, it is unreasonable to force landowners (under threat of condemnation) to accept unfair value for an additional 50 feet of their property required for the new line along the entire 160-mile easement corridor. Past easements with ATC have typically NOT been the result of good faith negotiations, but have been the result of somewhat dishonest, poorly communicated efforts by ATC to bully landowners into taking less than fair market value by threatening and initiating eminent domain proceedings to take private property without due process in violation of the U.S. and State Constitutions.
2. The proposed line is unnecessary, as it will not be more reliable than the existing 138-kV high voltage line, which has approximately 70 years of reliable power history, and it will not result in lower energy costs for consumers, given the 1-billion-dollar cost of installing the new line and continually rising energy costs.
3. The project will be destructive to many high-quality wetlands, bogs, forests, woodlots and environmentally sensitive areas along the route.
4. ATC will be illegitimately seizing additional property from these landowners after recently entering into updated easements where ATC contractually agreed to purchase additional property rights (under threat of eminent domain) that were limited to those only currently needed for the existing transmission line corridor, not including the extra 50 feet that they would need along the entire corridor for this new line.
5. It is unreasonable to subject people, livestock and other animals living close to 345-kV high voltage transmission lines to potentially harmful health affects (as there have not been adequate health studies), primarily so ATC can earn more money and higher profits.
PETITION JUSTIFICATION TO PREVENT AMERICAN TRANSMISSION COMPANY’S (ATC) GRID FORWARD CENTRAL WISCONSIN PROJECT, 345-kV HIGH VOLTAGE TRANSMISSION LINE
TO GOVERNOR TONY EVERS, PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF WISCONSIN (PSCW) AND ATC
To prevent American Transmission Company (ATC) from conducting its Grid Forward Central Wisconsin Project, which would replace approximately 160 miles of the already existing 138-kV high-voltage transmission line to 345-kV high-voltage transmission lines, from the ATC Columbia Substation in Columbia County, north to the Arpin Substation in Wood County, and then west to the Xcel Energy Tremval Substation in Trempealeau County.
______________________________________________________________________________
We, the undersigned property owners, land users, and citizens of these United States – We the People – find it unnecessary, unreasonable, and illegitimate for American Transmission Company to conduct a rebuild of the already existing 138-kV high-voltage transmission line, thereby replacing the line with a 345-kV high-voltage transmission line, for the following reasons and concerns:
1) First and foremost, it is unreasonable to expect and force property owners to yet again renegotiate an easement, which would this time force property owners to relinquish approximately an additional fifty (50) feet of their respective properties along the easement corridor. As it stands currently, the easement is generally one-hundred (100) feet in width. ATC seeks to, based upon state and federal code, widen the easement to generally one-hundred and fifty (150) feet.
A) This is unreasonable as we, property owners and land users, are the ones who have purchased the properties, we pay the taxes on our respective properties, we pay the costs associated with land ownership, and we make improvements to our properties. These are our properties – not ATC’s, not the government’s – We the People own these properties. ATC has no business and absolutely no right to force any of us into renegotiation, and if we refuse to renegotiate, to condemn our property for “the greater good” of society. If the easement was renegotiated or the land was condemned, we would still be responsible for taxes, costs, and improvements on our respective properties – which would be devalued even more due to higher voltage lines and further environmental destruction as a result of a wider easement or right-of-way. Yet ATC would not be responsible for the aftereffects and consequences of their project – ATC would simply be content with making more money.
2) This project is also unnecessary. According to ATC’s Grid Forward Central Wisconsin Project website, the project is needed for reliability improvements and access to lower-cost energy. Nearly in the same breath, ATC’s website states, “The estimated cost of this proposed project is approximately $1 billion (cost estimate by MISO[Midcontinent Independent System Operator] in 2022 dollars). The cost of power line projects are paid for by utility consumers through their local utility electric bills. High-voltage infrastructure generally makes up approximately 8 to 13 percent of the monthly bill, which is shared across 5 million electric consumers in ATC’s service area. In Wisconsin, projects approved by MISO as an MVP (Multi Value Project) historically equate between 13 to 16 percent of the overall project cost.”
A) The cost of energy is increasing for consumers nationwide, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Low cost anything is a thing of the past. This project, because of the cost associated with it, will inevitably increase consumers’ monthly utilities bills –perhaps not in the consumption of energy itself, but through the cost of the project. So, while ATC claims it seeks to access lower-cost energy for consumers, in reality monthly utilities bills will increase regardless, not only because of the rising cost of energy in general, but because of a $1 billion project, for which ATC does not have to pay, yet will collect millions to billions of dollars in revenue from the consumers. Whose interest does ATC truly have in mind?
B) ATC claims the project is also needed for reliability improvements. This specific 138-kV line has been in service since 1954, when Wisconsin Power and Light Company installed the line. ATC replaced many wooden H-frame transmission poles to steel H-frame poles in the 2000s along this line to seemingly maintain reliability. By definition, reliability is synonymous with dependability. In this circumstance, replacing a 138-kV line with a 345-kV line is not a matter of reliability, for 138-kV lines are still very relevant and reliable across the United States and continue to be installed. One of ATC’s own projects, the Plymouth Reliability Project, indicates ATC continues to install 138-kV transmission lines throughout its area of operation. ATC states, regarding the overall project need, “The substation and power line will relieve constraints on the current electric delivery system, improve reliability and support local energy demand.” Sound familiar? This is effectively the same reason ATC gives for the Central Wisconsin 345-kV project, with nearly the same verbiage: “Constraints on the electric grid, necessary reliability improvements, and access to lower-cost energy including renewable generation are all reasons for this project.” If ATC is intending on installing 138-kV lines elsewhere in the state and is suggesting the 138-kV lines are reliable, why the need to replace an already existing 138-kV line with a 345-kV line? This project is strictly to ensure ATC makes as much money as it possibly can.
3) Equally as important, ATC’s Grid Forward Central Wisconsin Project is also unnecessary and destructive as it pertains to Wisconsin’s ecosystems and environments. Though this easement is already established, more land will be destroyed as a result of ATC forcing landowners to renegotiate for a wider easement – very likely an additional fifty (50) feet, for one-hundred and fifty (150) feet total, for compliance with state and federal code.
A) According to ATC, “ATC works to minimize environmental impacts of construction, operation and maintenance. We comply with all laws that regulate activities that could significantly disturb birds, wildlife, wetlands, and environmentally sensitive areas. We strive to reduce the impact that building, operating and maintaining our facilities has on the environment and pursue opportunities to support sustainable, healthy ecosystems.” If this is the case, then might we look at the ongoing legal battle over ATC’s Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line project, where ATC has been intent on obtaining an easement and building a high-voltagetransmission line directly through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, against the dissent of many concerned organizations and citizens of Wisconsin and Iowa? Clearly and blatantly, ATC has zero concern for our natural environment, as it so claims. If ATC did have concern for mitigating environmental impacts, then would ATC, and should ATC, not find an alternate route, rather than attempting to force its way through a national wildlife refuge? This, in and of itself, proves ATC does not have concern for the environment and does not care whether or not it impacts or destroys more land, property, or ecosystems, be it private property, public property, or even national wildlife refuges, of all places. Rather, it shows ATC’s obvious intent – to make money at whatever cost. There is utter and blatant lack of concern and disregard for anyone who or anything which stands in ATC’s way.
4) Furthermore, there may be health concerns associated with living in the vicinity of or under high-voltage transmission lines. While ATC and the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin does address this topic, and suggests living around these lines does not pose a health risk, studies conducted cannot truly prove there are no health risks – indicating while it is likely no health issues arise from living around the lines, there is still the possibility of overarching health risks associated with living around the lines. Granted, there may currently be no hard evidence of significant health effects from the 345-kV high voltage transmission lines, but the possibility of health risks is still present. If the electric and magnetic fields have the potential to affect animals such as dairy cows, be it possible reduced milk production or behavioral issues, then might it also have the potential to affect human beings? More than doubling the voltage by replacing the 138-kV line with a 345-kV line simply increases health concernsabout the potential for increased health risks and issues, whether these risks and issues are legitimate, inconclusive, or otherwise. Why expose more citizens to the possibility of this risk and the concern associated with it? Perhaps so ATC can make more money.
5) Whereas, We the People acknowledge the likelihood that ATC will utilize Wisconsin’s eminent domain clause, found within Article 1, Section 13 of the Wisconsin Constitution, while utilizing the procedures outlined in Wisconsin State Statute 32.05, if we, the undersigned dissent to this order put forth by ATC to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, and if negotiations fail.
A) ATC has threatened eminent domain in the past to many landowners in order to bully its way into getting what it desires. This tactic has been utilized to force landowners into renegotiating a binding, legal document in that of a contractual agreement between ATC and respective landowners in order to obtain more property and rights within any given transmission line easement. This behavior is unacceptable and illegitimate. It is unnecessary. It is a large monopolized corporation overstepping its bounds on a moral, ethical, and principled level – and if landowners dissent, ATC uses its power to take at the cost of landowners – of United States citizens who have worked for what they own, who pay property taxes, and who seemingly live in a free United States. Or is it?
B) ATC has overstepped its U.S. Constitutional bounds, according to our 4th Amendment, which states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
6) ATC is unreasonably attempting to seize property against the will of We the People, under the guise of taking property for a public purpose. ATC already has a fully functional, fully constructed, efficient, and reliable 138-kV transmission line. These lines are absolutely still relevant and integral within the infrastructure of the United States. The only reason ATC seeks to replace these lines with 345-kV lines is to make more money. ATC has never cared about or considered the impact upon the landowners from which it takes, or the environmental impact upon our ecosystems – which is evident by its blatant attempt to cross a national wildlife refuge on a separate project. ATC claims the Grid Forward Central Wisconsin Project is to make energy more affordable and to improve reliability on the lines due to electrical grid constraints. Who again is paying for this?
A) This is the “public purpose” for which ATC seeks to seize property from We the People – we, the undersigned. Meanwhile, We the People will continue to stand against this proposed project in defiance of this breach of public trust.
7) We the People, hereby indicate we most certainly dissent with the proposed project, based upon the above reasons, and beseech ATC and PSCW to reconsider the proposed project, thereby allowing the current 138-kV transmission line to remain in place.
93
The Issue
PETITION TO PREVENT AMERICAN TRANSMISSION COMPANY’S (ATC) GRID FORWARD CENTRAL WISCONSIN PROJECT, 345-kV HIGH VOLTAGE TRANSMISSION LINE
TO GOVERNOR TONY EVERS, PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF WISCONSIN (PSCW) AND ATC
We the undersigned landowners, land users, and U.S. citizens (We the People) oppose and find it unreasonable, unnecessary, destructive, and illegitimate for AMERICAN TRANSMISSION COMPANY (ATC) to replace approximately 160 miles of an existing 138-kV high voltage transmission line with a 345-kV high voltage transmission line for and including the below reasons, supplemented with more details in the included petition justification document. We request that PSCW not approve and that ATC abandon this project.
1.First and foremost, it is unreasonable to force landowners (under threat of condemnation) to accept unfair value for an additional 50 feet of their property required for the new line along the entire 160-mile easement corridor. Past easements with ATC have typically NOT been the result of good faith negotiations, but have been the result of somewhat dishonest, poorly communicated efforts by ATC to bully landowners into taking less than fair market value by threatening and initiating eminent domain proceedings to take private property without due process in violation of the U.S. and State Constitutions.
2. The proposed line is unnecessary, as it will not be more reliable than the existing 138-kV high voltage line, which has approximately 70 years of reliable power history, and it will not result in lower energy costs for consumers, given the 1-billion-dollar cost of installing the new line and continually rising energy costs.
3. The project will be destructive to many high-quality wetlands, bogs, forests, woodlots and environmentally sensitive areas along the route.
4. ATC will be illegitimately seizing additional property from these landowners after recently entering into updated easements where ATC contractually agreed to purchase additional property rights (under threat of eminent domain) that were limited to those only currently needed for the existing transmission line corridor, not including the extra 50 feet that they would need along the entire corridor for this new line.
5. It is unreasonable to subject people, livestock and other animals living close to 345-kV high voltage transmission lines to potentially harmful health affects (as there have not been adequate health studies), primarily so ATC can earn more money and higher profits.
PETITION JUSTIFICATION TO PREVENT AMERICAN TRANSMISSION COMPANY’S (ATC) GRID FORWARD CENTRAL WISCONSIN PROJECT, 345-kV HIGH VOLTAGE TRANSMISSION LINE
TO GOVERNOR TONY EVERS, PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF WISCONSIN (PSCW) AND ATC
To prevent American Transmission Company (ATC) from conducting its Grid Forward Central Wisconsin Project, which would replace approximately 160 miles of the already existing 138-kV high-voltage transmission line to 345-kV high-voltage transmission lines, from the ATC Columbia Substation in Columbia County, north to the Arpin Substation in Wood County, and then west to the Xcel Energy Tremval Substation in Trempealeau County.
______________________________________________________________________________
We, the undersigned property owners, land users, and citizens of these United States – We the People – find it unnecessary, unreasonable, and illegitimate for American Transmission Company to conduct a rebuild of the already existing 138-kV high-voltage transmission line, thereby replacing the line with a 345-kV high-voltage transmission line, for the following reasons and concerns:
1) First and foremost, it is unreasonable to expect and force property owners to yet again renegotiate an easement, which would this time force property owners to relinquish approximately an additional fifty (50) feet of their respective properties along the easement corridor. As it stands currently, the easement is generally one-hundred (100) feet in width. ATC seeks to, based upon state and federal code, widen the easement to generally one-hundred and fifty (150) feet.
A) This is unreasonable as we, property owners and land users, are the ones who have purchased the properties, we pay the taxes on our respective properties, we pay the costs associated with land ownership, and we make improvements to our properties. These are our properties – not ATC’s, not the government’s – We the People own these properties. ATC has no business and absolutely no right to force any of us into renegotiation, and if we refuse to renegotiate, to condemn our property for “the greater good” of society. If the easement was renegotiated or the land was condemned, we would still be responsible for taxes, costs, and improvements on our respective properties – which would be devalued even more due to higher voltage lines and further environmental destruction as a result of a wider easement or right-of-way. Yet ATC would not be responsible for the aftereffects and consequences of their project – ATC would simply be content with making more money.
2) This project is also unnecessary. According to ATC’s Grid Forward Central Wisconsin Project website, the project is needed for reliability improvements and access to lower-cost energy. Nearly in the same breath, ATC’s website states, “The estimated cost of this proposed project is approximately $1 billion (cost estimate by MISO[Midcontinent Independent System Operator] in 2022 dollars). The cost of power line projects are paid for by utility consumers through their local utility electric bills. High-voltage infrastructure generally makes up approximately 8 to 13 percent of the monthly bill, which is shared across 5 million electric consumers in ATC’s service area. In Wisconsin, projects approved by MISO as an MVP (Multi Value Project) historically equate between 13 to 16 percent of the overall project cost.”
A) The cost of energy is increasing for consumers nationwide, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Low cost anything is a thing of the past. This project, because of the cost associated with it, will inevitably increase consumers’ monthly utilities bills –perhaps not in the consumption of energy itself, but through the cost of the project. So, while ATC claims it seeks to access lower-cost energy for consumers, in reality monthly utilities bills will increase regardless, not only because of the rising cost of energy in general, but because of a $1 billion project, for which ATC does not have to pay, yet will collect millions to billions of dollars in revenue from the consumers. Whose interest does ATC truly have in mind?
B) ATC claims the project is also needed for reliability improvements. This specific 138-kV line has been in service since 1954, when Wisconsin Power and Light Company installed the line. ATC replaced many wooden H-frame transmission poles to steel H-frame poles in the 2000s along this line to seemingly maintain reliability. By definition, reliability is synonymous with dependability. In this circumstance, replacing a 138-kV line with a 345-kV line is not a matter of reliability, for 138-kV lines are still very relevant and reliable across the United States and continue to be installed. One of ATC’s own projects, the Plymouth Reliability Project, indicates ATC continues to install 138-kV transmission lines throughout its area of operation. ATC states, regarding the overall project need, “The substation and power line will relieve constraints on the current electric delivery system, improve reliability and support local energy demand.” Sound familiar? This is effectively the same reason ATC gives for the Central Wisconsin 345-kV project, with nearly the same verbiage: “Constraints on the electric grid, necessary reliability improvements, and access to lower-cost energy including renewable generation are all reasons for this project.” If ATC is intending on installing 138-kV lines elsewhere in the state and is suggesting the 138-kV lines are reliable, why the need to replace an already existing 138-kV line with a 345-kV line? This project is strictly to ensure ATC makes as much money as it possibly can.
3) Equally as important, ATC’s Grid Forward Central Wisconsin Project is also unnecessary and destructive as it pertains to Wisconsin’s ecosystems and environments. Though this easement is already established, more land will be destroyed as a result of ATC forcing landowners to renegotiate for a wider easement – very likely an additional fifty (50) feet, for one-hundred and fifty (150) feet total, for compliance with state and federal code.
A) According to ATC, “ATC works to minimize environmental impacts of construction, operation and maintenance. We comply with all laws that regulate activities that could significantly disturb birds, wildlife, wetlands, and environmentally sensitive areas. We strive to reduce the impact that building, operating and maintaining our facilities has on the environment and pursue opportunities to support sustainable, healthy ecosystems.” If this is the case, then might we look at the ongoing legal battle over ATC’s Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line project, where ATC has been intent on obtaining an easement and building a high-voltagetransmission line directly through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, against the dissent of many concerned organizations and citizens of Wisconsin and Iowa? Clearly and blatantly, ATC has zero concern for our natural environment, as it so claims. If ATC did have concern for mitigating environmental impacts, then would ATC, and should ATC, not find an alternate route, rather than attempting to force its way through a national wildlife refuge? This, in and of itself, proves ATC does not have concern for the environment and does not care whether or not it impacts or destroys more land, property, or ecosystems, be it private property, public property, or even national wildlife refuges, of all places. Rather, it shows ATC’s obvious intent – to make money at whatever cost. There is utter and blatant lack of concern and disregard for anyone who or anything which stands in ATC’s way.
4) Furthermore, there may be health concerns associated with living in the vicinity of or under high-voltage transmission lines. While ATC and the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin does address this topic, and suggests living around these lines does not pose a health risk, studies conducted cannot truly prove there are no health risks – indicating while it is likely no health issues arise from living around the lines, there is still the possibility of overarching health risks associated with living around the lines. Granted, there may currently be no hard evidence of significant health effects from the 345-kV high voltage transmission lines, but the possibility of health risks is still present. If the electric and magnetic fields have the potential to affect animals such as dairy cows, be it possible reduced milk production or behavioral issues, then might it also have the potential to affect human beings? More than doubling the voltage by replacing the 138-kV line with a 345-kV line simply increases health concernsabout the potential for increased health risks and issues, whether these risks and issues are legitimate, inconclusive, or otherwise. Why expose more citizens to the possibility of this risk and the concern associated with it? Perhaps so ATC can make more money.
5) Whereas, We the People acknowledge the likelihood that ATC will utilize Wisconsin’s eminent domain clause, found within Article 1, Section 13 of the Wisconsin Constitution, while utilizing the procedures outlined in Wisconsin State Statute 32.05, if we, the undersigned dissent to this order put forth by ATC to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, and if negotiations fail.
A) ATC has threatened eminent domain in the past to many landowners in order to bully its way into getting what it desires. This tactic has been utilized to force landowners into renegotiating a binding, legal document in that of a contractual agreement between ATC and respective landowners in order to obtain more property and rights within any given transmission line easement. This behavior is unacceptable and illegitimate. It is unnecessary. It is a large monopolized corporation overstepping its bounds on a moral, ethical, and principled level – and if landowners dissent, ATC uses its power to take at the cost of landowners – of United States citizens who have worked for what they own, who pay property taxes, and who seemingly live in a free United States. Or is it?
B) ATC has overstepped its U.S. Constitutional bounds, according to our 4th Amendment, which states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
6) ATC is unreasonably attempting to seize property against the will of We the People, under the guise of taking property for a public purpose. ATC already has a fully functional, fully constructed, efficient, and reliable 138-kV transmission line. These lines are absolutely still relevant and integral within the infrastructure of the United States. The only reason ATC seeks to replace these lines with 345-kV lines is to make more money. ATC has never cared about or considered the impact upon the landowners from which it takes, or the environmental impact upon our ecosystems – which is evident by its blatant attempt to cross a national wildlife refuge on a separate project. ATC claims the Grid Forward Central Wisconsin Project is to make energy more affordable and to improve reliability on the lines due to electrical grid constraints. Who again is paying for this?
A) This is the “public purpose” for which ATC seeks to seize property from We the People – we, the undersigned. Meanwhile, We the People will continue to stand against this proposed project in defiance of this breach of public trust.
7) We the People, hereby indicate we most certainly dissent with the proposed project, based upon the above reasons, and beseech ATC and PSCW to reconsider the proposed project, thereby allowing the current 138-kV transmission line to remain in place.
93
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on March 5, 2025