Complaint Against Soon-To-Be-Constructed Transmission Line Dismissed

Groups that oppose a giant transmission line scheduled to be built across western Wisconsin lost their latest effort to stop the project.

Members of Citizens Energy Task Force and SOUL of Wisconsin have been outspoken critics and filed numerous complaints over the CapX2020 line – the high-voltage, massive transmission line traveling from the Dakotas to the La Crosse area. Opponents say they want regional energy generation and that the lines are an eyesore. CapX2020 has been federally endorsed and the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved the project, citing a regional need for more power.

The opponents’ latest efforts to stop the line included filing a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC recently dismissed that complaint.

Deb Severson is a board member with the CapX opposition groups. She says they keep facing roadblocks and contradicting information.

“I’ve never been so jaded with a system before,” says Severson. “All there seems to be are more and more ways for basic information to not come forward to the people who are ultimately paying for the line.”

Severson says there are other legal options to try and stop the line’s construction, but it would be incredibly costly for the grassroots groups.

CapX2020 officials say the lines need to be upgraded and will provide enough energy for the growing La Crosse area for the next 50 years. Officials say the construction in Wisconsin will begin next year. They’re waiting for the Army Corps of Engineers to issue a permit so the line can cross the Mississippi River near Alma.