Judge issues injunction halting work on parts of $500M Cardinal-Hickory power line

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Even as utilities were preparing to move forward with building the $500 million Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line in western Wisconsin, a federal judge handed down an injunction that will temporarily prevent the work from going forward on or near federally protected areas.

American Transmission Company, ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative announced Monday that construction will start this week on the 102-mile power line, which will run from Dane County to Dubuque, Iowa, cutting through the Driftless Region. In part because of that planned encroachment on protected areas, the project has been the subject of a series of lawsuits filed by environmental groups like Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and Driftless Area Land Conservancy.

On Monday, as the utilities behind the transmission line were announcing plans to begin clearing away vegetation in Dane County, U.S. District Judge William Conley issued an order preventing work on the transmission line from proceeding on or near federally protected waters. The order followed on a separate injunction issued by a Dane County judge who had called for the work to stop while also requiring opponents of the project to post a $32 million bond that could be used as compensation for any construction delays.

Conley, in his temporary injunction, found the opponents were likely to succeed with their arguments both that federal agencies had failed to conduct a proper environmental review before approving the Cardinal-Hickory Creek line and that allowing the project to disturb dozens of protected wetlands in the project’s path would cause irreparable harm. Conley’s injunction now puts the work on hold until he can issue a final decision, a step he’s expected to take in 30 to 60 days.

“The utilities should stop throwing good money after bad, and stop playing chicken with the people and vital natural resources in Dane, Iowa and Grant Counties in Wisconsin’s scenic Driftless Area landscape, family farms and rural small-town communities,” said Howard Learner, lead attorney for the environmental groups.

A spokesperson for the utilities didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the injunction.

ATC, ITC and Dairyland meanwhile said on Monday that their involvement in the court challenges has not affected plans for their transmission line, which promises to support the development of more renewable energy in the Midwest.

Construction began on the project line in Iowa early this year. The utilities say they have spent more than $150 million on the line since Wisconsin regulators approved it in late 2019.

“To keep the Cardinal-Hickory Creek project on schedule with the in-service date of December 2023 and provide the transmission needed to support over 100 renewable generation projects in Wisconsin and the region, we are moving forward now as planned,” said Jacob Valentine, ATC senior project manager Jacob Valentine.

Even though the utilities have moved forward with parts of the project, they are still missing a permit needed to take it across the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which forms the border between Wisconsin and Iowa. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service withdrew its approval of the permit over the summer, saying it had given it in error. The agency, instead, is studying a proposed land transfer that would allow utilities to use 19 acres of land within the refuge — a proceeding that could take about nine months.

Environmental groups are challenging the Cardinal-Hickory Creek project on several legal fronts. They argue federal agencies had acted improperly when they approved the permits needed to build the line on protected wildlife areas and that the Wisconsin Public Service Commission’s procedure for granting the project was flawed and its approval tainted by bias.

In one case, the environmental groups are arguing that former PSC Commissioner Mike Huebsch’s previous contact with utilities executives had constituted a conflict-of-interest that should invalidate the project permit. The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed last month to consider the case. Follow @natebeck9