Town poised to fight data center power line route

The Saukville Town Board was poised on Wednesday to vote on a resolution opposing the extension of new substations and electrical power lines in the township by American Transmission Co. to serve a data center in Port Washington.

The resolution, which was to be considered during a special meeting of the board, also directs Town Chairman Kevin Kimmes to look into whether the town should hire an attorney to represent the township when ATC files an application for those lines with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.

“The construction of high-voltage transmission lines is not for the common good of the State of Wisconsin or residents of Ozaukee County or the Town of Saukville, but is driven substantially by the needs of the data center,” the proposed resolution read.

“The Town Board expresses, in the strongest possible terms, its opposition to the new construction of high-voltage transmission lines that will bisect the town and the town’s strong preference that any new high-voltage transmission be constructed within the existing electrical distribution rights of way and corridors within Ozaukee County.”

“If you can’t do that, stay out of the Town of Saukville,” Kimmes said in an interview Tuesday.

The board’s action was spurred by residents opposed to the extension of these power lines who appeared before officials during the regular Town Board meeting.

Kimmes said that about a dozen residents appeared at the last board meeting to ask for help fighting the power lines.

A number of residents also spoke up in opposition to the route during open houses held in Port by ATC last week.

Kazzandria Duralia of Deerfield Road said she’s upset about the impact on health and the nature centers that surround her neighborhood, as well as the potential impact on property values.

“I’m very upset about this,” she said. “It can be very dangerous. The sound it’s going to put out, the sparks. It’s a huge eyesore. It will have a huge impact on our health. It’s going to ruin all the birds’ habitats. I don’t see any good coming of this.”

ATC is proposing to make a number of changes to the grid in the area to bring electricity to the data center, and Kimmes said the preferred route for its so-called western line would bisect the Town of Saukville.

“A lot of people are being affected in a negative way for power lines to go to one single entity in one community,” Kimmes said. “I just think it’s not right. We shouldn’t have to take the brunt of something for the City of Port Washington and this data center.”

He said town residents don’t want to see new high-voltage lines go up in what are now bucolic neighborhoods. To make room for the new lines, Kimmes noted, mature trees in some areas would have to be cut down and natural areas destroyed.

Dairy farmers have talked about the impact on their cows, which Kimmes said are particularly sensitive to power lines.

ATC would need to buy easements for the lines, but if residents refuse to sell the easements to the company it would seek to use the powers of eminent domain to obtain the land.

Residents are angry about the proposed route and the impact on their community, and Kimmes said it’s a universal sentiment in the town.

“I haven’t heard of anyone saying it’s fine by me,” he said.

Kimmes said he understands how residents feel.

“It doesn’t affect my lot — I don’t think it affects any of us (on the Town Board), but we see the wrong that’s being done,” he said.

The Town Board last week gave residents permission to circulate a petition against the power line route at the Town Recycling Center on Saturday, where Kimmes said they gathered more than 70 signatures.

The petition states that residents are “deeply concerned” about the power line project, which it says “will have a devastating impact on our community’s environment, safety and property values. We demand that the project be re-evaluated and that the company prioritize alternate routes using established towers.”

It also seeks a “thorough” environmental impact study be conducted before the project proceeds.

Kimmes estimated that easements would be needed from about 30 property owners if the route through the township is selected by ATC and approved by the Public Service Commission.

“But hundreds of people will be affected by the view,” he said.

It’s not just Town of Saukville residents who would be affected. Kimmes noted that officials from the Town of Trenton planned to be at Wednesday’s meeting to see how the two communities can work together because the same route that goes through Saukville goes through Trenton.

In addition, Port Mayor Ted Neitzke said during last week’s Common Council meeting, where a number of people spoke opposing the proposed power line route, that he would write to ATC asking the company to take their concerns seriously in determining a route for the power lines. 

Kimmes conceded that the town faces an uphill battle against the power lines.

“The town doesn’t have any authority over this,” he said. “They (ATC) don’t need permission from us.

“We’re trying to support the residents any way we can, but our power and our authority is minimal in this.”