By Tom Stolp, Restoring Lands Executive Director
Restoring Lands commends the Wisconsin Public Service Commission’s decision on Thursday, August 6, 2026 to revoke the completeness determination for American Transmission Company’s (ATC) application to construct new high-voltage transmission lines through portions of Ozaukee and Washington counties, including nature preserves and conservation easements protected by the land trust.
The Commission’s action reinforces a principle Restoring Lands, affected landowners, and conservation advocates have emphasized throughout the proceeding: major infrastructure decisions must be based on complete and accurate information, particularly when permanently protected lands, sensitive wildlife habitat, and significant public investments in conservation are at stake.
Over the past several months, Restoring Lands has played a leading role in reviewing ATC’s proposal. While recognizing the importance of a reliable electric grid, the organization has consistently advocated for infrastructure planning that avoids unnecessary impacts to property that landowners, taxpayers, and conservation organizations have spent decades protecting.
“The tech industry operates under the mantra of ‘move fast and break things,’ but that doesn’t work for Wisconsin’s laws governing our air, water, and conservation lands. Projects like ATC’s power line must be based on complete and accurate information, and the Commission found this project clearly was not,” said Tom Stolp, Executive Director of Restoring Lands.
Stolp continued, “the PSC’s decision is consistent with our longstanding concern that a rushed effort to route massive amounts of electricity in support of a hurriedly approved data center project produced a deficient application and an unsalvageable review process. We commend the Commission for halting this process and ensuring that any future review is driven by complete information, meaningful public participation, and sound environmental analysis rather than an incomplete application that could cause irreversible harm to permanently conserved natural resources.”
Restoring Lands believes the Commission’s decision creates an opportunity for a more transparent and thorough evaluation of the data center transmission project.
The organization remains committed to participating constructively in any future review process and will continue advocating for alternatives that minimize environmental impacts and avoid permanently protected conservation lands whenever possible.
“This decision sets an important precedent by reaffirming Wisconsin’s tradition of environmental protection and ensuring that infrastructure planning reflects the full environmental, economic, and community costs of development,” said Laurie Parsons, President of the Restoring Lands Board of Directors.
“We are grateful to the many landowners, scientists, community members, supporters, and public servants who participated in this process and helped demonstrate why Wisconsin’s conserved lands matter. Current and future generations of hikers, hunters, birders, and outdoor enthusiasts of every kind will benefit from these efforts.”
Conserved Lands Must Be a Last Resort
The public record developed during the proceeding also raised significant concerns about ATC’s route selection process.
From the outset, ATC’s application failed to identify important conservation lands, natural areas, and conservation easements, including Restoring Lands properties within the Kinnamon Conifer Swamp Natural Area. ATC later stated that it had not considered these properties because it was unaware of them, despite publicly available data and early outreach by Restoring Lands highlighting potential impacts to nature preserves and conservation easements.
According to Restoring Lands, this was more than a minor omission.
“That ATC maintains it was unaware of the existence of permanently conserved lands reflects an application process undertaken by ATC that moved faster than the facts could be reviewed and incorporated,” Stolp said. “The resulting application undermined both the Commission’s review and the interests of affected landowners and stakeholders, like Restoring Lands. The PSC’s decision to revoke completeness reflects the importance of ensuring that all relevant information is fully incorporated before regulatory decisions are made.”
Expert Testimony Identified Significant Environmental Concerns
On July 24, Restoring Lands submitted testimony for the now suspended review from four expert witnesses specializing in land conservation, ecology, and wildlife science.
Supported by field research and environmental inventories, the testimony identified substantial concerns regarding ATC’s preferred southern route, which would affect hundreds of acres of conserved habitat and public recreation lands, including the Kinnamon Conifer Swamp Natural Area, Riverbend Preserve, and privately protected conservation easements entrusted to Restoring Lands.
Wildlife scientist Dr. Gary Casper concluded that ATC’s wildlife assessment remained incomplete because critical seasonal field surveys had not been conducted. His research documented 33 sensitive bird species along the proposed corridor, including endangered, threatened, special concern, and Species of Greatest Conservation Need.
“The lack of recent and comprehensive survey effort during appropriate times of year for detecting species presence along this proposed construction route by the Applicant is exceptional in my experience,” Dr. Casper stated in his testimony.
Botanist Dr. Jim Reinartz testified that at least 28 rare or uncommon regional plant species occur on affected Restoring Lands properties. His testimony also raised concerns that the proposed route would fragment some of southeastern Wisconsin’s highest-quality forest communities, particularly within the Kinnamon Conifer Swamp Natural Area.
Among the alternatives evaluated, Dr. Reinartz described ATC’s proposed southern route as “the most environmentally destructive.”
More lines could be coming
Restoring Lands’ concern extends beyond this routing decision to the precedent it could set. Through discovery in this PSC proceeding, we learned that Vantage Data Centers has begun planning with ATC for a possible Phase 2, revealing the potential scope of high-voltage transmission expansion in our region. Discovery documents indicate that Vantage’s future plans could require an additional 2.2 gigawatts of electrical capacity beyond the current project.
For perspective, the Phase 1 proposal before the PSC is designed to deliver about 1.3 gigawatts. Together, the two phases could require up to 3.5 gigawatts—more than the electricity used by all Wisconsin households and roughly 24% of the state’s current peak demand.
While Phase 2 transmission needs remain unknown, delivering an additional 2.2 gigawatts could require substantial new transmission infrastructure and potentially additional high-voltage corridors.
ATC failed to adequately identify conserved lands in Phase 1 and must do better in its future proposed utility corridors.
Staying involved
There are still several months of review ahead of us as we continue to work through the complexity of the Public Service Commission’s decision-making process. Next month we’ll be presenting our expert testimony and because the transmission project’s timeline has left too little time for appropriate multiyear wildlife monitoring and complete survey data, Restoring Lands continues to conduct research along the proposed route.
Your support of our mission through a contribution to Restoring Lands will ensure we have the resources to see this effort through.
Looking Ahead
In light of the PSC’s decision, ATC has publicly stated it is “considering its options.” Regardless of what options ATC chooses, Restoring Lands intends to stay vigilant with following activities:
- Continue to engage ATC and other stakeholders that any future routing proposal must avoid impacts to forever-conserved landscapes and other sensitive natural areas.
- Continue environmental reviews and working to secure funding to expand biodiversity surveys across its preserves to strengthen the scientific record documenting the ecological and outdoor recreation value of these lands.
- Work with partners, including Gathering Waters, Wisconsin’s statewide alliance of land trusts to develop policy recommendations that strengthen protections for conservation lands and discourage future infrastructure siting proposals from threatening permanently protected properties.
We are grateful for the many supporters who have submitted comments, attended meetings, and shared why Wisconsin’s conserved lands matter. Your support strengthens our ability to stand up for the forests, wetlands, farms, rivers, and open spaces entrusted to our care, now and for future generations.