Dairyland Power’s Maribell Transmission Line open house held Thursday, November 20, drew a large crowd to  a very overcrowded Westby Civic Center.

The official reports indicated 320 people signed into the event and it was estimated at least another 80 people attended, but did not sign in. For the record, the official capacity of the room was 200. Many people came and went during the two-hour event. The estimated total attendance was 400.

Due to the large crowd and small venue, conversation with Dairyland Power representatives and other officials was difficult. Even viewing the informational posters lining the walls was difficult because of the crowd size.

“While the open house format has the advantage of one-on-one conversation it does not allow for the thorough gathering of information,” local resident Edie Ehlert said later. “A public meeting would be better presentation for people to hear question and answers and have more of an in-depth connection with the information.

“A lot of people came and a lot of people had concerns,” Ehlert said. “I was working outside with a petition supporting meeting landowner information needs.”

Ehlert feels the Driftless is not the place to build this 765 kV transmission line. She favored routing it along I-90 or someplace that is already very developed.

“I learned that this proposed transmission line will be very noisy,” Ehlert said “This place where we live is quieter than others. We lack an I-90 and the associated noise and that’s what makes it special for the birds and wildlife as well.”

For the record, the Maribell Transmission Project is a 140-mile transmission line that would be built between Marion, Minnesota and Bell Center, Wisconsin. The proposed project includes a 765/161 kilovolt double-circuit transmission line built in an existing corridor, according to information provided by Dairyland at the open house.

The new transmission line would: enhance reliability of the electric grid; unlock access to more energy resources; help meet surging energy demand and support the region’s growing economy, according to information provided by Dairyland Power and GridLiance Heartland at the open house.

In a brief conversation at the open house with Dairyland Power’s Eric Jacobson, the Independent-Scout learned little more about the project than already was reported. For instance, Jacobson affirmed that there was a large need for more electric power, but when asked how large that need was, Jacobson could not comment. Instead, he said those were questions for MISO.

MISO is the acronym for Midcontinent Independent System Operator.  It was formerly named Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. MISO is an Independent System Operator (ISO) and Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) established in 1998, according to Wikipedia.

MISO provides open-access transmission service and monitors the high-voltage transmission system in the Midwestern United States, in Manitoba, Canada, and in a southern U.S. region that includes much of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. MISO also operates one of the world's largest real-time energy markets. The 15 states covered by MISO are: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Jacobson confirmed that MISO is monitoring and controlling some of the country’s electric grid at all times.

When asked where and why there is an increasing demand for electric power, Dairyland’s Jacobson again said those were MISO questions. While it did not appear there were MISO representatives present at the meeting, there were representatives from other companies assisting Dairyland in the project present at the open house. The others present included representatives of GridLiance Heartland, partner in the Maribell project; and Doyle Land Services.

Operating in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region, GridLiance Heartland owns high-voltage transmission lines and related substation infrastructure in Illinois and Kentucky. GridLiance Heartland has focused on replacing aging infrastructure, modernizing the grid and improving reliability for the area’s customers.

Dairyland Power Cooperative and GridLiance Heartland, LLC (GridLiance), a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Transmission, LLC, have reached an agreement to jointly develop and co-own the MariBell Transmission Project, a 139-mile, 765 kilovolt (kV) / 161 kV double circuit transmission line in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The 139-mile segment, which extends from Marion, Minn., to Bell Center, Wis., is a portion of a new 273-mile, 765 kV transmission line, and spans six counties in the two states.

Doyle Land Services is another company working on the project and also had representatives at the open house. The company has provided project management, right-of-way and land acquisition, permitting, title, data management and GIS drafting services to the Energy Industry throughout North America. 

The citizens, who talked with Independent-Scout staff, mostly ranged from overwhelmingly opposed to highly skeptical. None spoke in favor of the proposed Maribell Transmission Line.

A well-known young organic farmer told us he was present to try and save his farm, which is located adjacent to the right-of-way easement for the current line.

Another local resident, who lives in Seneca Township and lives next to the right of way easement said he was glad to see the massive turnout.

Dairyland’s Eric Jacobson and Katy Thomson, joined by Lille Zeng from GridLiance, seemed very happy with the attendance at the open house. Thomson confirmed the event was held ‘in very tight quarters.’

Thomson emphasized the group was interested in feedback from landowners and local residents.

In addition to more open houses, the land agents working on the project would be making presentation at town boards and other places, Jacobson explained.

At one point, Thomson indicated the life of the project is estimated to be 40 years.

The project must be approved by separate state government agencies in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

“We’re at the very beginning of the process,” Thomson noted. “We’re reaching out to affected landowners.”

Thomson said feedback was important and invited those concerned with the project to send in comments to www.maribelltransmission.com and email connect@maribelltransmission.com.

Many citizens in attendance indicated they were frustrated to not have their questions answered. In some cases, they really never had a chance to ask them because of the size of the room and the size of the crowd. Others said that representatives answering the questions either said they didn’t have an answer or  talked around the subject of the questions.

“I didn’t get any answers here,” a local resident from Clayton Township said. She indicated she learned more from the citizens she was talking with than the Dairyland and other industry representatives present.

Tim Eisele, another affected landowner, who has the transmission line crossing his Seneca area property, was not pleased to hear about the giant towers and the 765 kV transmission line.

An ardent duck hunter, Eisele bought the property to be close to the Mississippi River. He said with the help of his wife they have been steadily improving it since buying it in 1990–removing invasive species and encouraging prairie plants.

“We have no electricity and no water on the property,” Eisele said. “This thing is a travesty.”

The Eisele’s are familiar with the large transmission lines and their giant towers from driving in Illinois, where they are already installed.