County is dragging its feet in filing an appeal, County Board members urge action before appeal deadline of December 16th.
Here’s the letter that was passed around the county board floor on Thursday night.
November 21, 2019
Dear Colleagues,
As members of the Environment, Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee that passed the resolutions causing us to intervene in the Public Service Commission determination of the Cardinal-Hickory Line Proposal, we are pleased that our Corporation Counsel’s brief in the matter has been regarded as the best submitted. As that brief should provide ample basis to proceed it is unclear to us why our attorneys have yet to file an appeal, as have other intervenors.
While our previous request of the County Executive was received with the assurance that Corporation Counsel was still reviewing the issue, there has yet to be any action on their part. Since then, Supervisors have received a letter from Renew WI claiming that the CHC line would promote renewable energy. This is does not align with the facts presented to the PSC.
As the appeal deadline has now become December 16 th . Please review the attached documents that rebut the Clean WI claims and lay the groundwork for a successful appeal. In sum they state:
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- PSC staff evaluated ATC data and found that CHC would not produce energy savings.
- The grid is large enough to carry all the renewable energy ratepayers can afford to build.
- There is no guarantee the line will carry any significant amount of renewable energy.
- While upgrades are necessary, that doesn’t require building new big lines. The PSC staff determined that rebuilding transmission lines as identified in their Base with Asset Renewal Alternative (BWARA) would:
- Mean a $900,000 rebuild instead of $300 million for Cardinal Hickory Creek
- Have all of the reliability benefits of CHC
- Produce economic benefits in 8 of 11 future scenarios studied by PSC staff
- Increase the amount of renewable energy entering Wisconsin
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Most compelling in our view is a recent Wisconsin Supreme Court instruction, while granting review in Tetra Tech EC, Inc. v. DOR, that the parties consider whether “the practice of deferring to agency interpretations of statutes comport with Article VII, Section 2 of the Wisconsin Constitution.” This means is that agency conclusions of law are subject to de novo review. Thus we will have a better chance of prevailing on appeal as the Court can take a closer look at the PSC Staff’s BWARA finding.
Through several unanimous County Board actions we’ve taken stands on this unnecessary line. Our concern is for the local governments who have weighed in opposition and for residents who have already seen their property values decline with the threat of this project.
Please join our requests for the support of County Executive Parisi and that Corporation Counsel move forward with an appeal.
Patrick Downing
Nikole Jones
And here’s the additional supervisors who have signed on to the letter – a clear majority of the Dane County Board.
Cardinal Hickory Line Appeal Request Signators
Elizabeth Doyle D1
Heidi Wegleitner D2
2nd Vice Chair Analiese Eicher D3
Richard Kilmer D4
Haley Young D5
Yogesh Chawla D6
Matt Veldran D7
1 st Vice Chair Paul Nelson D9
Paul Rusk D12
Chuck Erickson D13
Kristen Audet D17
Michele Ritt D18
Andrew Schauer D21
Shelia Stubbs D23
Chair Sharon Corrigan D26
Dorothy Krause D27
Nikole Jones D28
Dave Ripp D29
Patrick Downing D30
Jerry Bollig D31
Ann Degarmo D33
Patrick Miles D34
Melissa Ratcliff D36
Robert Salov D37
