Measure to keep local control over power line construction advances in Legislature
MADISON – An effort to limit competition among companies building new power lines in Wisconsin is moving forward after a vote Thursday in the state Assembly.
It's a change opponents fear could lead to rate hikes but backers say would do the opposite, while bolstering the state's electric grid.
The legislation would establish a right of first refusal for utilities already doing business in Wisconsin, allowing the owners of transmission lines to build lines that connect to their existing ones without having to compete with out-of-state companies for the projects.
The bill passed the Assembly on a voice vote, with several members objecting. There was no debate.
Wisconsin is currently served by three transmission utilities: American Transmission Company (ATC), Xcel Energy and Dairyland Power Cooperative.
Backers of the proposal say it is needed to keep decisions on transmission lines under the oversight of the state's Public Service Commission, rather than sending them through a cumbersome bureaucratic bidding process executed by Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc., the regional grid operator overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
If the measure is enacted, Wisconsin would join eight other states on the MISO grid that have passed right-of-first-refusal laws since the FERC implemented a rule known as Order 1000, which eliminated the right in an effort to spur competition and lower the costs of transmission projects.
Two former FERC commissioners testified in favor of the proposal during a state Senate committee hearing in October.
"Competitive procurement for transmission has not been the magic bullet," said former FERC commissioner Marc Spitzer. "Elimination of the (federal right of first refusal) has led not to more wires but instead bureaucratic morass. In that respect I was mistaken when I supported it."
The proposal is opposed by an unusual collection of groups across the ideological spectrum including Americans for Prosperity, Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, Clean Wisconsin and the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin.
"Far too many Wisconsinites are already grappling with the consequences of rising energy costs, but today’s vote robbed ratepayers of much needed relief. Our legislators tilted the field in favor of crony capitalism and against the best interest of Wisconsinites," AFP state director Megan Novak said in a statement.
The Assembly vote comes about a year and a half after MISO approved a $10.3 billion plan for 18 transmission projects in the Midwest to facilitate shifts toward clean energy generation and strengthen the grid against severe weather disruptions.
The Senate has yet to schedule a vote on the proposal. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, told reporters last week the bill's supporters were "still trying to rally votes."
Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bill to keep local control over new power line construction advances
