Pretty lame. The PSC states that it was never willing to consider the underground routes, per it's own written policy. So why was so much time, money, and energy expended on a futile effort? Did no one bother to communicate and discover that the decisions had already been made?

Also, why is it a good idea to plan on bringing in huge amounts of power from far away (increasing the amount weinergies purchases from out of state, in fact) rather than consider adding power generation near the anticipated future demand? Is that another case of the "not in my backyard" syndrome that comprised most of the effort referenced by Ehley?

Aren't those large transmission towers usually along major highways and such? It sounds like it will make a fair-sized part of Wauwatosa look like heavy-industrial crap. At least the property owners affected can get their tax bills reduced, right?

Why can't the towers run right through the Regional Medical Center to where the energy is consumed there? Don't tell me that they're the only ones with enough money to buy off the PSC? Though I hear it's insanely profitable every time a child dies after receiving some six-figure treatments for a rare disease.

WTF - Wauwatosa and the City and County of Milwaukee oppose the project, yet it gets approved anyway. how is this even possible?

Wow -

"Commissioner Nowak said that "it must be technically necessary for the line to be undergrounded, consistent with commission precedent which states that 'underground construction is not a viable transmission option unless engineering considerations require it or circumstances leave no other reasonable option available.'"

I mean, I know we were told that it will often come down to cost but that if we approached them with a "united front" (so to speak) we could sway their decision. This makes it sound like there was never really an option to go underground.

All this time spend. All the neighborhoods put at odds at each other...

Aside from the aesthetic and property value concerns there are serious opportunity costs for redevelopment on the northwest quadrant of the county grounds. Choosing the cheapest way will cost the residents of Wauwatosa in the long run. Apparently there is absolutely no foresight at the PSC. Beyond that this sets a dangerous precedent that allows public parkland to be converted to a power line corridor against the will of the citizens who communally own that land. The PSC has chosen to disregard the will of the citizens, the Wauwatosa City Council, the Milwaukee Common Council and the Milwaukee County Board, simply unbelievable.

why do we even have the PSC? who assigns them this kind of power against the will of the citizens? more importantly the increased cost per citizen for underground route is 1 quarter of a penny per month. less than a penny per month that's how underground costs would affect citizens

Progress sometimes is not pretty.

Jbw you hit it on the head with your first question. Indeed why did the city spend so much to fight a futile effort. The PSC weighs the pros and cons and historically never rules in favor of underground unless there are technical reasons. The city was warned by ATC that resistance was futile but the city spent a huge amount of time and money incorrectly blaming ATC (they are only the middleman that is forced to build the lines as needed), instead of attempting to force other options. We energies could improve the antiquated power plant on the county grounds but it would cost them 10 times what their cost will be to provide power through the underproducing plant on the south side and force ATC to transmit the power.

Of course there is always the option to refuse to allow the new construction on the medical grounds. Wauwatosa has been trying to attract new business on the grounds for years. You really can't have your cake and eat it too. Greensheet said it above. Progress sometimes is not pretty.

The comments in the article that claim the PSC just blew off wauwatosa and did not seriously review the claims brought before them are unfair and incorrect. There is a 25 page document that covers their decision. An entire staff at the PSC spent countless hours reviewing the case. The public hearing announcing the decision is just that, the announcement. If the city wants to know what the reasoning was behind the decision they can get a copy of that report.

What is interesting to me is that a bunch of busy bodies from various backgrounds in Wauwatosa want to dictate to electrical engineers both on the PSC and ATC how they think electricity should be directed. How ignorant of Wauwatosa to listen to these ignorant ne'rdowells!

I trust engineers to do the job given them. If you tell them find the cheapest route, that's what they'll do. If you tell them find a route that goes round in circles, they won't like it a bit but eventually they'll figure it out. An underground route is a little more challenging but if that's what you ask them to do, well, they can do that, too. It's a matter of defining the problem, eh? Right now the definition is limited to cheapest. No other variables seem to matter. I don't know about you, but most of my consumer purchases consider more factors than that. I'll buy the cheapest paper towels but for something I want to have around a long time, I'll go up a notch.