Collection: coverage of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line

Wisconsin’s ratepayer advocate is asking utility regulators to halt construction of a $492 million power line while its fate is decided in the courts.

The Citizens Utility Board said utilities are “recklessly” spending ratepayer money by continuing construction of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek line between Dubuque and Middleton in spite of a court ruling that the line cannot cross the Mississippi River as planned.

A federal judge has blocked a power line under construction in Iowa and Wisconsin from crossing the Mississippi River after finding the government’s environmental review was inadequate.

Judge William Conley’s ruling throws the fate of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line into question just months after utilities began construction on the $492 million project.

Construction of a controversial power line through southwestern Wisconsin has begun amid ongoing permit issues, legal challenges and two court orders that limit what work can be done.

A joint venture of American Transmission Co., ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative, the 102-mile line between Middleton and Dubuque is the subject of multiple state and federal lawsuits from the Driftless Area Land Conservancy and Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.

A Dane County judge has agreed to temporarily halt construction of a power line through southwest Wisconsin, provided opponents of the project can come up with millions of dollars to cover potential costs of a delay.

Utilities had planned to begin building the $492 million Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line between Middleton and Dubuque, Iowa, on Oct. 25, according to court documents.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether a former regulator’s relationships with utility executives created a conflict of interest that could scuttle a controversial power line to be built across southwest Wisconsin.

In a split decision Tuesday, the high court agreed to hear Mike Huebsch’s challenge to subpoenas from power line opponents who sought to question him and inspect his phone for encrypted communications.

Citing delays and limited resources, opponents of a proposed power line through southwest Wisconsin have dropped efforts to inspect the phone of a former regulator who had secret conversations with utility executives.

The Driftless Area Land Conservancy and Wisconsin Wildlife Federation are suing the Wisconsin Public Service Commission in an effort to block the $492 million line known as Cardinal-Hickory Creek.

A Dane County judge has ordered a former state utility regulator to turn over his cellphone to groups seeking to prove conflicts of interest tainted approval of a controversial power line through southwest Wisconsin.

Judge Jacob Frost on Friday denied former Public Service Commissioner Mike Huebsch’s effort to block a subpoena from opponents of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line.

Utility regulators declined to reissue a permit Thursday for a controversial power line across southwest Wisconsin, defending their approval of the $492 million project.

Two voting members of the Public Service Commission deadlocked on a request from the owners of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek line to rescind and reapprove a construction permit that is the subject of four separate court challenges but left the issue open for future consideration.

The owners of a highly contested power line through southwestern Wisconsin are seeking a new permit after discovering a former regulator who approved the project exchanged encrypted messages with utility employees, potentially tainting the project’s approval.

American Transmission Co. and ITC Midwest filed a request Monday with the Public Service Commission to rescind the permit for the $492 million Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line and reopen the proceedings “to consider next steps.”

A Dane County judge says he will revoke the permit for a controversial power line through southwestern Wisconsin if opponents can prove one of the three regulators who approved it had a conflict of interest.

Circuit Court Judge Jacob Frost issued a preemptive ruling Tuesday in a case involving the $492 million project known as Cardinal-Hickory Creek.

A proposed high-voltage power line between northern Iowa and southwestern Wisconsin faces yet another legal challenge.

Environmental groups sued the Army Corps of Engineers in federal court Wednesday over its permit allowing utilities to place towers in the Mississippi River for the $492 million project known as Cardinal-Hickory Creek.

Four state and national conservation groups are suing two federal agencies over a proposed power line between northern Iowa and southwestern Wisconsin that would cut across a national wildlife refuge.

The groups claim the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service violated federal law by authorizing the line, known as Cardinal-Hickory Creek, to cross the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, and the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service failed to consider alternatives in its environmental review.

Groups seeking to block a proposed power line through southwestern Wisconsin scored a victory Friday when a federal judge allowed them to proceed with a lawsuit against state regulators.

Judge William Conley partially denied the Public Service Commission’s motion to dismiss the case brought by the Environmental Law & Policy Center on behalf of the Driftless Area Land Conservancy and the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.

Opponents of a power line through southwestern Wisconsin have uncovered more evidence of private communications between a former regulator and the utilities behind the project.

Mike Huebsch, who stepped down from the Public Service Commission in February, later applied to lead Dairyland Power Cooperative after voting to approve two of its projects, the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line and a $700 million natural gas plant. Though he did not land the job, the timing of his application prompted allegations of bias.

Two Wisconsin lawmakers are calling on federal officials to reexamine the impacts of a controversial power line on the Mississippi River and surrounding national refuge.

In separate letters, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, questioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s plans to grant an easement through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge for the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line.

Environmental groups want to question a former Wisconsin regulator who applied to lead one of the state’s largest utility companies after voting to approve two of its projects.

Clean Wisconsin and the Sierra Club have asked a judge to require former Public Service Commission member Mike Huebsch to testify about whether interest in the top job at Dairyland Power Cooperative influenced his vote to allow the utility to build a $700 million natural gas plant.

A former Wisconsin regulator sought to lead one of the state’s largest utilities just months after voting to approve two of the company’s projects.

Mike Huebsch, who resigned from the Public Service Commission in February, later applied for the job of chief executive officer of Dairyland Power Cooperative, according to documents obtained by a group suing the agency over approval of a controversial power line through southwestern Wisconsin.

Four local governments are asking state courts to block a proposed high-voltage power line through southwestern Wisconsin, saying regulators abused their discretion and violated their own rules when they approved the $492 million project.

Dane and Iowa counties each filed petitions Thursday in their respective circuit courts seeking to overturn the Public Service Commission’s September order approving construction of the line known as Cardinal-Hickory Creek.

Opponents of a power line through southwestern Wisconsin have sued state regulators in federal court claiming conflicts of interest should have kept them from approving the controversial project.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by the Environmental Law & Policy Center on behalf of the Driftless Area Land Conservancy and the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, challenges the decisions of Public Service Commission Chairwoman Rebecca Valcq and Commissioner Mike Huebsch to vote on the line known as Cardinal-Hickory Creek.

Federal wildlife authorities are proposing to allow a controversial power line to cross one of the largest blocks of floodplain habitat in the continental United States, while Wisconsin officials have granted the project a permit to temporarily fill some wetlands.

Three utility companies seeking to build the Cardinal-Hickory Creek high-voltage transmission line between Dubuque, Iowa, and Middleton are seeking permission to cross the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge near Cassville.

A handful of residents have asked Wisconsin utility regulators to reconsider the decision to allow construction of a high-voltage power line across the southwest corner of the state, and Iowa County supervisors have voted to join an appeal if the decision stands.

Jewell Jinkins Intervenors, a nonprofit organization formed by three Iowa County families, filed a petition this week asking the Public Service Commission to put on hold the order authorizing construction of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek line between Dubuque and Middleton and to re-examine the application.

Wisconsin utility regulators granted final approval Thursday for a controversial power line while rebuffing conflict of interest charges from opponents of the nearly $500 million project.

At a meeting interrupted by protesters, the Public Service Commission voted unanimously to authorize construction of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek line between Dubuque, Iowa, and Middleton in a written order summarizing points the three commissioners agreed to during a hearing in August.

DODGEVILLE — The combines and balers are idle but the grain and hay wagons have found new purpose as winter descends on the Driftless Area.

Normally, at this time of the year, the wagons are out of sight and stored in pole barns, machine sheds or other out buildings. Only now, they’re helping farmers along Highway 18-151 advocate.