All Power Lines Lead to Port Washington

On the night of the Oct. 7 Port Washington Common Council meeting, hundreds of residents crowded the entrance, attempting to enter the chambers to express their concerns about the proposed Artificial Intelligence (AI) Data Center in Port Washington. Many were unable to get inside, and the media were barred from entering for more than 30 minutes after the meeting began. 

Members of the Protect Fredonia Coalition eventually helped Media Milwaukee into the chamber. Coalition members talked to the team and expressed that their concerns extended beyond the data center’s construction and into a broader $1.4 billion plan by the American Transmission Company (ATC) to build new power lines throughout Ozaukee County and surrounding areas. 

There are three routes the ATC could choose to power this enormous building, while also ensuring that power to local communities will not be affected. ATC’s preferred route comes from the ground up, while the alternative route uses existing power lines.  

Residents begin to come together

Many residents have expressed outrage at the idea of power lines being built through their properties. Residents and advocates against the data center have been speaking at Common Council meetings, signing petitions, and doing everything in their power to try to reverse the decision.

That was how the Protect Fredonia Coalition was formed, based in Farmington. Another coalition, Advocates for Responsible Power, is based in Saukville.  

One of the Farmington coalition leaders, Patti Plough, spoke at the Oct. 7 meeting. Plough spoke with concern over transparency and the impacts on the community.

“I have a neighbor to the east of me that will have four towers across her property,” said Plough. “I mean, the devastation that this is causing is just absolutely unacceptable.”

From the initial knock on their doors on Aug. 21 to Aug. 25, the group held its first meeting, drawing 75 attendees. Since then, members have conducted on-the-ground efforts to oppose the proposed power lines. 

The two coalitions recently joined together to create the Responsible Energy Alliance. They have been holding consistent meetings as well as meet-and-greets to get the community to join the cause.

Where does everything else stand?

The ATC is looking to build new extra-high-voltage transmission lines to power the proposed data center. The Port Washington Common Council approved the project in August of this year. 

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) will determine the final route for the lines.  The ATC is expected to complete its application with the PSC around Dec. 14.

The Colorado-based company Vantage has not openly supported any specific route, and they will not make any decisions regarding the alternate route until the ATC application is complete.

Patty Plough will be requesting a public town hall with WE Energies, the City of Port Washington, ATC, and Vantage.

The Effects on the Environment

One of the key talking points, besides the power lines running through properties, is the environmental damage that may come from them. The Alliance says that using the existing route would reduce disruption, preserve property values, and avoid unnecessary environmental damage, citing wetlands, effigy mounds, and eagle nests as areas of concern. 

The Restoring Lands Wisconsin Trust, which is based in Ozaukee County, has been avidly defending the land that the routes will run through. They have been showing up to the Responsible Energy Alliance’s meetings, being an consistent partner with them.

They passed out pamphlets at the last Alliance meeting with a general statement.

“As Data Center development accelerates, delivering the massive energy needs they require presents unprecedented impacts to natural areas and the rural character of Wisconsin. Some proposed transmission lines would carve 250-foot corridors through our preserves. We’re standing firm, defending the promise of forever in ‘forever protected.'”

Residents are responding to their own properties being affected by power line routes.

“They are going to destroy approximately 1500 trees on my property,” said David Aversa, a resident of Saukville. “They are going to cut down four or five hundred 70-year-old trees down my driveway, into a wildlife refuge that is owned by the Restoration Land Trust and myself.”  

The refuge is called the Kinnamon Conifer Swamp, the head of the watershed for Cedar Creek. It acts as a natural sponge and prevents flooding downstream in Cedar Creek and into the Milwaukee Basin. The power lines would take 19 acres of protected wildlife designated by the State of Wisconsin.  

The Need for Power

The Vantage Data Center is expected to use 1.3 gigawatts of power, with later phases potentially requiring up to 3.5 gigawatts. One gigawatt is roughly the amount needed to power more than 750,000 homes. 

Alliance members believe cost considerations may explain why ATC has not prioritized existing corridors and note that communication about the project has lacked transparency. 

ATC states, “As part of the routing and siting process, ATC follows the power line routing priorities established by state law, which favor colocation with existing facilities and infrastructure – like existing power lines and pipelines, highways, and railroads – where it is feasible. This is intended to reduce the impact on local areas and communities.” 

Where Port Washington Stands

The organization has continued communication with the mayor following earlier tensions at council meetings.  

The mayor of Port Washington spoke to Media Milwaukee, expressing empathy for affected residents. “I have a lot of empathy, and if I had more influence, I would use it. Those are private entities working within the state, working within statutes, and, you know, I, I do everything I can to help, but at the end of the day, I don’t have control.” 

What are the next steps?

There is rising tension in the community. At the December 2nd Common Council meeting, three women were arrested. They were arrested for what police are calling disorderly conduct at the city council meeting.

One of the Alliance leaders, Joseph Gromacki of Fredonia, shared in his Dec. 11 op-ed, “What is happening in Port Washington is an abomination of the role of government in serving its people—an affront not only to freedom of speech, but also to basic principles of representational democracy, reflecting arrogance, conceit and condescension of governmental leaders.”

The Responsible Energy Alliance plans to take as many steps as possible to protect the properties and the environment. They have engaged a law firm to represent them and have already filed a motion to intervene with the PSCW so “their joint voices can be heard during the PSCW power-line decision-making process. 

“I’ve said it from day one, I’m not against the data center, but I am against them taking our land,” said Steve Holland, who spoke at an Alliance meet and greet on Dec. 1.  “The farm that I own, they want 15 acres. I can deal with that, I can fight them, I have the money to fight them. But some of the people in this room don’t. So we’re fighting on your behalf.” 

Holland is looking at hiring a law firm out of Washington, D.C. that would be willing to take this to the Supreme Court.  

“If they want to take my property, have fun, because I will go all the way to the end. I will fight this to the federal Supreme Court. Try me, because I’m not backing out.” 

Vantage has not officially broken ground for the data center as of early December. Representatives from Vantage say that construction will most likely begin before the new year.