Opponents say weight of evidence against Duluth-Wausau
transmission line will test PSC’s political courage.

Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 09:24:21 -0600
From: Stacy Volk <cen21697@centuryinter.net>

S.O.U.L.
Save Our Unique Lands
News Release
February 26, 2001
Contact: Tom Kreager 715-693-3143

Public Service Commission faces trial of public confidence
Opponents say weight of evidence against Duluth-Wausau
transmission line will test PSC’s political courage.

Madison, WI - Technical hearings ended last week on the proposed Arrowhead-Weston transmission line. Dozens of witnesses provided testimony critical of the proposal and its impacts on the state’s
economy and environment. Top state and national officials, including Wisconsin Governor Scott McCallum, say the project is the wrong way to solve the state’s energy needs.

Governor McCallum says the existing transmission lines can be upgraded sufficiently to eliminate the need for the Arrowhead-Weston line. Speaking at the University of Wisconsin Superior, MaCallum said, "I understand we need more generation in Wisconsin. If we could use more public access and if it made economic sense, I would support using existing right-of-ways."
(http://www.superior-wi.com/placed/index.php?story_id=62889)

“If the PSC didn’t have a recent history of kowtowing to the utilities this would be over,” said Washburn county resident Sandy Lyon, a member of the SOUL (Save Our Unique Lands) Board. “Everybody believes the Commissioners are in the pocket of the utilities. It’s a tangle of political
appointments and cozy relationships with lobbyists.  That’s a lot of inertia to overcome but the case has been proven in both the public and technical hearings.”

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Citizen Utility Board, and the National Park Service each filed testimony opposing the construction of the 245 mile line. Nine of the eleven County Boards along the proposed route passed resolutions opposing the line. The PSC’s technical staff gave a scathing environmental failure rating to the project, saying the line would cost too much, and would cause too much environmental damage to wetlands, waterways and forests. Public proceedings contained testimony equal to fifty days of court hearings, with over 1,000 citizens and town board officials calling for rejection of the project.

“With the record that has been established, it seems practically impossible for the Commission to approve this project,” said Tom Kreager, President of SOUL.  “The Commission will be negligent if it ignores all of the findings of fact contained within the Final Environmental Impact Statement
prepared by its own staff.”

“The PSC may still ignore all of the experts, even their own,” said Sandy Lyon. “But, if  they ‘rubber stamp’ this project, then the entire state will see ‘the emperor has no clothes’. Either way, the days of the Public Service Commission serving private interests will end with this project.”

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