On Tuesday, April 17, 2012, CUB general counsel Kira Loehr made oral arguments before the Wisconsin Supreme on CUB’s position on the Bent Tree wind farm case. You can watch the arguments on both sides at Wisconsin Eye archives (click on the little TV set. The judges start at about 2 minutes in).

 

In August 2009, CUB and the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group filed a lawsuit against the Public Service Commission for ignoring state law in approving a 200-megawatt wind power project to be built in Minnesota, owned by Wisconsin Power & Light, and paid for by WPL’s Wisconsin customers.

 

CUB and WIEG contend that the PSC should have reviewed the project for a “certificate of public convenience and necessity,” or CPCN, which requires a more thorough review than projects reviewed for a “certificate of authority,” or CA.

 

In filing the lawsuit, WIEG and CUB contend that the PSC ignored Wisconsin law, which states that a utility cannot build a power plant of 100 megawatts or more unless the utility has received a CPCN.

 

This case is of statewide importance because significantly less review by the PSC is required in granting a CA, and customer groups like CUB and WIEG may have no opportunity to provide testimony and legal opinions regarding a proposed project’s appropriateness for providing Wisconsin consumers with electricity at reasonable prices.

 

Though the Dane County circuit court rejected our lawsuit in September 2010, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals “certified” our case to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in November 2011, and the Supreme Court accepted our case in December.  We hope for a decision by the court by the end of 2012.