Two Midwest utilities have filed a federal appeal seeking to lift a lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking the completion of the final mile of the Cardinal-Hickory Creek Transmission Line between Iowa and Wisconsin.
ITC Midwest LLC and Dairyland Power Cooperative filed a motion Friday in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that seeks to lift a temporary injunction issued last month by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. The utilities also seek to stay the injunction so they can continue work on the line and expedite the appeal.
The March 22 injunction blocks utilities from completing the last 1.1 miles of the $650 million project by prohibiting completion of a land swap with the Fish and Wildlife Service to acquire a needed easement through the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and the Mississippi River.
The appeal continues years of federal and state litigation over the 101-mile transmission line originally approved by the region’s grid operator more than a decade ago to bolster grid reliability and help Midwest states and utilities meet carbon goals. ITC and Dairyland say 161 renewable energy projects in the Upper Midwest representing almost 25 gigawatts of capacity — enough to power millions of homes — are conditioned on the line’s completion.
