At their December 9 meeting, the Crawford County Land Conservation Committee (LCC) discussed the 765 kilivolt (kV) transmission line proposed by Dairyland Power Cooperative (DPC) and GridLiance to run through northern portions of the county. If built, the MariBell Transmission Line would be the biggest in Wisconsin, with a right-of-way easement of 100 feet, and towers between 140-200 feet tall.

“I asked to have this put on the agenda, because I've been getting phone calls from people in the affected area, and was asked if there is anything the county can do to express our displeasure with where they want to put this transmission line and how large it is,” committee member Supervisor Mary Kuhn stated. “One of the people that I've talked to is currently within 75 feet of the current easement, and so what they're asking for is an expanded 100-foot easement that would put the line right on their doorstep.”

Kuhn asked Crawford Stewardship Project’s (CSP) Ellen Brooks to talk about the public information event held recently in Westby by DPC.

“There was no address made where Dairyland representatives made statements about what they were or were not doing, or what they were looking at,” Brooks shared. “If you had a question, you went and you talked to an individual, and you may or may not have gotten an answer, or you may or may not have gotten an answer that made any sense or that was useful to you.”

“I was hoping we could focus on some kind of consensus on providing a resolution that we do not support the current path of the transmission line, and take it to the county board,” Kuhn said. “My understanding is that representatives of the companies are already going out and talking to landowners about easements, and threatening use of eminent domain.”

“The County Board has approved some resolutions in the past with regard to transmission lines,” committee chair Supervisor Gary Koch observed. “We can certainly look at that, try to get a little bit of grasp of the proposed route, and maybe take it up at our January meeting. The next County Board meeting will be in February.”

Townships act

Crawford Stewardship Project President Edie Ehlert stated that the Town of Freeman had recently passed a resolution asking DPC for more information about the proposed transmission line, and the proposed route. She offered to share the resolution with committee members.

Ellen Brooks said that Crawford Stewardship Project had recently sent out an informational letter to potentially affected landowners in Crawford County to alert them to Dairyland’s proposal, and to point them to resources on CSP’s website.

The letter sent to potentially affected landowners in Crawford County by CSP pointed them to various resources housed on the organization’s website atwww.crawfordstewardship.org/post/transmission-line-resources :

• a podcast episode (#10) about where this proposal has come from & how to register concerns

• a map of additional proposed routes in Crawford, Richland, and Vernon counties

• two statements issued by Dairyland Power

• a handout packet with maps and more information

• information on how to contact Dairyland Power Cooperative

• information on how to contact your township

• a sample resolution template that any township can use to formally request answers from Dairyland.

“I can also report that the Town of Haney Planning Commission voted unanimously at their December 8 meeting to request that the Town Board send a letter to Dairyland Power,” Brooks shared. “The letter expresses the Town’s opposition to siting the line in Haney Township, and gives three or four reasons.”

CSP’s Joe Childs thanked Crawford County Real Property Lister Gionne Collins for assisting them with creating a map of potentially affected parcels in the county, and generating a list of the contact information for those parcels.

“It was a total of 130 parcels, and somewhere around 110 landowners,” Childs shared. “And that's just the ones that it directly touches. The Statue of Liberty size poles are going to have an effect on people three-to-four parcels away from that, so you could say probably around 600-700 parcels in the county would be affected either by the view or by an easement directly on their land. So this is a pretty big deal.”

After the meeting, the Independent-Scout learned that the Town of Utica Board had passed a resolution requesting detailed information about the project proposal from DPC and their partners in developing the line. The towns of Stark and Webster in Vernon County, and the Town of Forest in Richland County have also passed resolutions.

The proposed line was also discussed recently at town board meetings in Harmony, Genoa and Kickapoo townships in Vernon County, and by the Village of Viola Board.

Resources available

CSP Executive Director Amy Fenn reported she has been learning as much as she can about transmission lines, and about efforts to oppose them in Driftless Region municipalities.

Reached after the meeting, Fenn made clear to the Independent-Scout CSP’s official position on the proposed transmission line:

“Crawford Stewardship Project is not organizing in opposition to or support of this proposed power line.  CSP is advocating for Dairyland Power to be proactively communicating; and treating our local communities as partners in decision-making, because these proposals would deeply affect us.  One of CSPs five core values is ‘Inclusivity: we trust that the best decisions are made with all stakeholders at the table, using good process to meet divisive issues with collaboration and teamwork.’  Since our local communities are stakeholders, CSP is advocating for Dairyland to include our communities in the decision-making. If the line is to be built, and built as 765kV towers, CSP advocates for it to be routed along an existing industrial corridor, such as an interstate.”

“My understanding is the Public Service Commission (PSC) is the one who makes the final decision,” Fenn shared. “As far as we know, they're not researching a separate option - they're only looking at here. And I don't know why. What I’ve been advised is that what registers with the PSC is not saying we don't want it, because nobody wants it. Instead, I’ve been told concerned citizens and landowners should ask questions, because that forces the company and PSC to do their due diligence. We need to know exactly what they're proposing, and then we can be more specific than just we don't want it. That way, we'll have more power and more weight, especially with the PSC. PSC wants to see the companies address our concerns, but our concerns need to be based in knowing what they're proposing and why we're concerned.”

County request

County Conservation Director Dave Troester shared information about past actions the Crawford County Board had taken with respect to transmission lines proposed to be sited in the county.

“That's kind of what we've done in the past.” Troester contributed. “I'll actually forward an example of a resolution passed by the Board back in 2012 regarding an American Transmission Company (ATC) line. The resolution ended with a request to provide solid information about the proposal so Crawford County has sufficient means to evaluate it, and make informed decisions and recommendations regarding the proposal.  The resolution requested that the PSC ensure an impartial study of all solutions for this project. So, not saying no, but tell us more.”

“The resolution could both oppose siting it in Crawford County, and request information,” Brooks said. “It could say this does not fit what, what the citizens here want, and in addition, we want all this information.”

Brooks shared that the resolution passed by the Richland County Town of Forest is the most thorough one she’s seen so far, but very lengthy. She said it does a very good job of pinpointing the questions that need to be answered, and offered to share a copy with the committee.

“The line Dairyland is proposing is three times as tall as what we presently have, and the easement is at least twice as wide,” Brooks emphasized. “That's a lot of problems and effects. It's a lot of force that will affect people's homes - literally, people will be forced from their homes.”

Kuhn said she’d heard that a proposal to site the line in Grant County had been considered and rejected, and asked what people knew about that.

“That's part of the problem. Dairyland has not been transparent. It's hard to say what is on the table, and what is off the table,” Brooks responded. “We don't know enough. That's the problem, and you as a government body can get that information. I as a private citizen, I wrote to them, and they probably won't respond. A governmental body asking for information is highly important.”

Fenn told the committee that the people she’d been speaking with are retired from working for the companies who build transmission lines, and some of them own land out here.

“They're saying that the time to act is now, and that Dairyland is planning to file with the PSC in 2026,” Fenn shared. “My sources say they usually would take three years for this process, but they're going full speed ahead, and that it's easier for us to make an impact before they file. Once they file, then in order to interact, you need to hire experts and go through a lot more process. If we want to be heard with our own voices, right now is our opportunity.”

Troester asked committee members what they would like from him prior to their January 13 meeting? Kuhn suggested the committee could recommend a resolution to the County Board for consideration at their February meeting. Koch said he thought the resolution would have more heft if it came from the County Board.

Troester asked the committee if they wanted the resolution to express opposition to siting the transmission line in Crawford County, request more information, or both?

“Why don't we do both,” Kuhn  suggested.