PPSA Hearing is OVER
December 10th, 2024
An hour in utility futility! The Power Plant Siting Act annual hearing is over. Comment period? Here’s how:
The most important thing I see is that as of this legislative session, THE POWER PLANT SITING ACT NO LONGER EXISTS! Minn. Stat. Ch. 216E was the Power Plant Siting Act:
But now? It’s all been repealed and renumbered, and RENAMED under a different chapter:
And permitting statutes were repealed, amended, and then renumbered and sent over to a new “Chapter 216I.” Click that link to check it out.
What does it mean for siting and permitting if the Power Plant Siting Act is repealed? Kinda don’t want to think about it.
Annual Hearing Tuesday – PPSA
December 7th, 2024
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
The Power Plant Siting Act annual hearing, a la Minn. Stat. 216I.15, is the time to let the Public Utilities Commission know what works and what does not work in the Commission’s siting of power plants, transmission, wind, solar, and even pipelines!
Here’s the problem — all they have to do per the statute is “advise the public of the permits issued by the commission in the past year.” What happens after that, well, it goes to the PUC but that’s about it. It is a good time to vent, and get on the record all the horrible things that have happened over the year, and the historical trends, such as elimination of the Advisory Task Force.
Here’s the decades old law providing for Advisory Task Forces:
And this session, after the Public Utilities Commission and their OAH ALJs were denying, denying, denying after so many Advisory Task Force Petitions over so many years — simply repealed, eliminated:
It’s GONE! And eliminating the reference of Task Forces as an aspect of public participation:
Ja, we “Public Participants” get the PUC’s message loud and clear:
Public participation via the Public Utilities Commission? Remember the Report of the Office of the Legislative Auditor?
Public Utilities Commission’s Public Participation Processes – OLA-Report
Fat lot of good that did. Instead of improving public participation, we hear the Commission Chair saying, “What can we do to make this faster for you?” and “What can we do to speed this permitting up?” and that whole “streamlining” effort, which is really STEAMROLLING. Fast tracking permitting, denial of interventions, failure to have project proponents witnesses at hearings for questioning…
PUC Strategic Plan
Here are the reports from the last 20 years — often they hold it on my birthday, but not this year. You can see that year after year, it’s the same issues:
2006 Report to PUC – Docket 06-1733
2007 Report to PUC – Docket 07-1579
2008 Report to PUC – Docket 08-1426
2009 Report to PUC – Docket 09-1351
2010 Report to PUC – Docket 10-222
2011 Report to PUC – Docket 11-324
2012 Report to PUC – Docket 12-360
2013 Report to PUC – Docket 13-965
2014 Summary Report– Docket 14-887
2015 Summary Report – Docket 15-785
2017 Summary Report – Docket 17-18
2018 Summary Report – Docket 18-18
2019 Summary Report_Docket 19-18
2021 Summary Report – Docket 21-18
2022-Summary-Report_Docket 22-18
And last year’s Report from the 2023 hearing, held on December 20, 2023:
There’s a trend… And here we go, on Tuesday, another year of banging heads against the wall.
WI PSC – Cardinal-Hickory Creek on agenda TODAY
July 29th, 2021

Today, starting at 10:30, the Wisconsin PSC meeting is on, and last on the agenda, #15, is the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line. They will be deciding whether they will interfere in judicial review of their C-HC order and make that moot by rescinding the order, and then, whether they will immediately RE-ORDER as the utilities want. Regulatory capture much?
Tune in early, because last time they ran through 40 items in 5-6 minutes!

To listen to meeting (whatever happened to the webcast?) go HERE: https://apps.psc.wi.gov/APPS/eventscalendar/broadcast/livebroadcast.aspx
To check out all the filings in this docket, go HERE! Some very interesting and highly recommended comments were filed over the last month.
If you’re curious or upset that there is no longer video livestreamed, contact PSC Helpdesk at (608) 267-9195 or email at PSCHelpdesk@wisconsin.gov
Soon… Freeborn Wind appeal
April 14th, 2021
