Opponents speaking out about new proposed High Voltage Power line to La Crosse - WKBT, La Crosse, WI - July 27, 2010

Plans are on the table to build a new high-voltage power line that would link Madison to La Crosse. But like other proposed power line projects in the Midwest, this one is creating some controversy.

Wisconsin based American Transmission Company is looking to build what would be known as the “Badger Coulee Transmission Line.”

Company officials say the 345-thousand volt power line would boost the reliability of the state’s electric system, provide savings for utilities and energy customers, support renewable energy and improve access to wind power.

You might remember, the CapX2020 project in Minnesota that involves building transmission lines that would reach from the Twin Cities to La Crosse.

A spokesperson for CapX says while transmission lines aren’t popular, they’re needed to meet future demand. “They really need this Wisconsin line, this La Crosse to Madison, if you’re going to move all this additional electricity generation that’s created by all these wind farms,” says Tim Carlsgaard from CapX2020.

Citizens Energy Task Force is one group that’s against both the Badger Coulee Transmission Line and the CapX2020 project.

Members are questioning what the benefits of a high-voltage power line would be and who will pay for it. They also say the lines are a bad idea for our energy future. ”The newer technologies of having solar and wind and various renewables including our friend coal, who’ve been using for many years. It’s cheap electricity. These things can be mixed together at local points and used and distributed locally, using new power grids much, much smaller. Much less expensive and much more efficiently,” says Citizen’s Energy Taskforce Member Jeremy Chipps.

If approved, the La Crosse to Madison power line would be built by 2018.