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Dear Editor:
Was The Cardinal Hickory Creek Project Ever Needed?
We live in a unique region of Wisconsin. The proposed transmission line crossing the Mississippi River in protected areas only heightens the disruption of natural scenic landscapes. This area contains the largest fish and wildlife habitat in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
The Cardinal Hickory Creek Project is estimated to cost at least $500 million plus financing costs with a mandated 10.2 % rate of return for the developers. These costs would be borne by the ratepayers over the anticipated 30-40 yr. lifetime of the power line.
As homeowners we strive every day to use less energy and to use it efficiently. The reward for conserving energy is a penalty of long term rate increases, of which we will receive no benefit.
Should we need more power in the future it would be more beneficial to use wind and solar power generated in our immediate area rather than shipping electricity from distant power plants. But that is not the case presently as electrical usage is flat or declining because of the best practices by ratepayers.
Who will benefit from building additional transmission lines? Certainly not the ratepayers who live in southwest Wisconsin.
Dave Swanson
Platteville WI