The decision by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission to approve a new power line in Sheboygan County is being contested. The letter objecting to the decision comes from Sheboygan County Board Supervisor Suzanne Speltz, who is “…requesting that the PSC do their due diligence and conduct an EIS to prove that N4N are accurate with their concerns.”
“N4N” refers to the group “Neighbors for Neighbors”, comprised mostly of those living along the route of the American Transmission Company project which is designed to meet increasing demands for power in the Plymouth area. An “EIS”, or environmental impact statement, was determined to be unnecessary during the approval process which lasted all of 2024. N4N asserted that not only were there inaccurate property descriptions contained in the application, it said that the PSC remained unaware of numerous environmental issues in the absence of the EIS. Supervisor Speltz added that she was made aware that PSC Commissioner Marcus Hawkins “struggled with the proximity of so many homes along the route”, while thanking N4N for providing accurate information to the Commission.
According to Supervisor Speltz, of particular interest was the clearcutting of Nichols Creek and the upper branch of the Milwaukee river, which N4N said would occur on private land, and which environmentalists claim will warm the water, killing the trout that inhabit Nichols Creek, a Class-1 trout stream which hosts a naturally reproducing population of brook and brown trout. Another environmental group, the Glacial Lakes Conservancy, holds land that is also scheduled for a clear-cut, contrary to their charter’s purpose to conserve and protect natural resources.
Speltz asserts that these and other issues make an EIS necessary, and which Speltz said should be conducted and thoroughly studied. It’s not sure what influence the Supervisor’s intervention will have at this point in the process.
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