US transmission line starts operation 13 years after approval
A Midwest high-voltage transmission line that faced lengthy environmental pushback entered service this week some 13 years after grid operators approved the project.
Image for illustration purposes.
USA, Iowa/Wisconsin: A Midwest high-voltage transmission line that faced lengthy environmental pushback entered service this week some 13 years after grid operators approved the project. The Cardinal-Hickory Creek 345 kV transmission line transmits clean power from Iowa to Wisconsin.
“Following years of work, including numerous opportunities for public input, extensive regulatory and environmental review, and construction, the entire Cardinal-Hickory Creek line has been placed in service,” said Dusky Terry, president of the line’s co-owner ITC Midwest. ATC and Dairyland Power Cooperative are also partial owners of the 102-mile line.
As of June, 160 renewable generation projects in the upper Midwestern states totalling almost 25 GW of capacity were dependent upon completion of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek line. The administration of US President Biden applauded the completion of the line and lauded it as a crucial step towards bringing clean power to the Midwest.
“It takes perseverance to build the infrastructure we need and the Cardinal Hickory Creek Project proves that we can get the job done by bringing clean, affordable power to Wisconsin and Iowa,” said John Podesta, senior advisor to the president for international climate policy. In May, a US appeals court lifted a lower court’s order blocking a land exchange needed before developers could build the final stretch of the project through a Mississippi River wildlife refuge.
Source: Reuters
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