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Dear Editor:
I am writing in response to the article "Cardinal-Hickory Creek get IUB approval, eyes 2021 start." This front-page article, which has no byline, appears to be a free ad for Cardinal-Hickory Creek. It reads like a press release from ATC. Certainly, it is not a balanced discussion as it ignores the ongoing local opposition against this transmission line some of which was expounded in previous Letters to the Editor in this paper.
Strikingly, the current court cases are ignored. Over a thousand people fought this line across three counties from Grant to Iowa to Dane. Hundreds showed up and spoke at the open meetings conducted by the PSC in Wisconsin and the IUB in Iowa. C-HC was approved in the face of Wisconsin's Public Service Commission staff recommending that the same benefits could be achieved by upgrading existing transmission lines at a fraction of the cost.
There are three lawsuits against C-HC currently in Dane County Court and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin filed variously by Driftless Area Land Conservancy, Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, Iowa County, Dane County, SOUL, the town of Montfort, the town of Wyoming, and individuals whose properties will be taken by ATC/ITC. These appeals question the merits of the Wisconsin PSC decision as well as conflict of interest issues regarding two Wisconsin PSC Commissioners at the time of the decision.
This line will be destructive to our environment, our pocketbooks (we the rate payers will pay for it through higher electricity rates), and our rural life. The fight to stop this transmission line is not over.
Michelle Citron
Dodgeville