PSC gets an earful during power line meeting in Port

The controversy over where to route power lines that will supply electricity to the Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus on Port Washington’s far north side took center stage last week as the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin held two listening sessions in Port to hear concerns about the environmental impact of the routes under consideration.

Roughly 100 people attended the sessions at the Holiday Inn Express, just a stone’s throw from the data center campus.

While the session was intended to get comments regarding the environmental impact, many of those attending sought information about the project and how it would impact them.

Natalie Schaefer of the Town of Saukville lives on one of the proposed routes and said she wanted to understand how the PSC will address environmental concerns.

“I want to make sure they understand everything they are touching,” she said. “This line will cut between the Cedarburg Bog and Riveredge (Nature Center). That’s a primary environmental corridor.”

A young couple who just moved into a house in the Town of Saukville that’s on the route said they didn’t know anything about the proposal before buying their home and wanted to find out what could happen.

“We’re just shocked by it,” the woman said. “I don’t know what to expect — we can hear the line buzzing now. Is it going to get louder? What else do we have to worry about?”

Dan Brehmer of the Town of Farmington said he’s concerned that trees he planted years ago will be cut down for the power lines.

“I’d hate to have them all cut,” he said. 

Ozaukee County Planning and Parks Director Andrew Struck said both routes proposed by American Transmission Co. would “have a lot of impact” on county-owned property — Hawthorne Hills Park in one case and land near the Cedarburg Bog on the other.

“There are some sensitive natural areas with both those sites,” he said.

Hawthorne Hills is near the Shady Lane Natural Area and the Milwaukee River Mesic Woods, which Struck said is the highest quality natural area in the county’s system.

ATC has recommended two routes for the lines — the so-called preferred route, which would traverse the Town of Saukville, and the preferred alternative route, which would go through the Town of Fredonia.

It doesn’t recommend the so-called alternate route, which would primarily follow existing power lines.

In addition to the power lines, four or five new substations will be built as part of the project.

The estimated cost of the power line project is between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion, depending on the route selected.

The route of the lines has proven controversial, with area communities and organizations fighting the preferred and preferred alternate routes because, they say, they would significantly impact the environment and residents.

Vantage Data Centers, which will pay for the project, has said it supports using the existing corridor, as have officials from Port Washington, Fredonia and the Town of Saukville.

The PSC is currently accepting comments on the environmental impact of the power line routes, after which a draft environmental impact statement will be created. Comments will then be taken on that document, and a final impact statement written.

After that, public hearings and comment periods on the overall project will be held. The PSC will determine which route will be used for the power lines.

That decision will be made by the end of the year, officials said.

Even as the PSC staff members were in Port taking comments, more than 100 people offered their comments online.

Allen Buchholz of Cedarburg wrote to recommend the existing line, or alternate route, be chosen, saying the other options “would be devastating to all involved.”

“Please focus on the existing power line route as the way to transmit this power. If Vantage favors this route and is willing to pay the increased cost, why would that route not be chosen?” he asked.

Jacqueline Fulcomer, president of the Waubeka Historic District Assoc., wrote that using the existing route will “prevent irreversible damage to the flora and fauna the Waubeka and Fredonia community treasures,” adding that the preferred routes would disrupt bald eagles nesting along the Milwaukee River and other migratory birds.

Public comments on the environmental impact of the routes will be accepted by the PSC through Feb. 6. Comments may be made at  https://tinyurl.com/y4muaubj.