Electric transmission line affecting Vernon, Crawford, Richland, Sauk, and Columbia Counties to be discussed

An information meeting for Driftless area landowners, residents, elected officials and business owners concerned about the economic, environmental and electric bill impacts of the proposed 765 kilovolt (kV) transmission line will be held at 1:00 PM Sunday afternoon, February 22, at the Gays Mills Community Commerce Center.

This meeting is organized by the group No765line and supported by the Gays Mills Public Library. Organizers state the event is intended to inform residents, elected officials, and business owners about the potential economic, environmental, and electric bill impacts of what would be the largest transmission line ever constructed in the Upper Midwest.

The line would be the largest-ever proposed, constructed, owned and managed in the upper Midwest – affecting Vernon, Crawford, Richland, Sauk, and Columbia Counties before continuing south through Dane, Jefferson, Walworth and Rock Counties.

The MariBell Transmission Project is a joint venture between Dairyland Power Cooperative, headquartered in La Crosse, and GridLiance Heartland, LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Transmission. The proposal involves constructing approximately 140 miles of double-circuit transmission lines carrying 765 kilovolts (kV) and 161 kV of electricity.

The line is designed to run from Marion, Minnesota, crossing the Mississippi River near Genoa, Wisconsin, to a substation in Bell Center, located south of Gays Mills in Crawford County. From there, the infrastructure is expected to connect to a larger regional network extending to Columbia County, Wisconsin.

*Some information was obtained from an article published by the Vernon Reporter.

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