County board to vote on use of county-owned land for Arrowhead-Weston

WAUSAU, Wis. – American Transmission Company officials today applaud the Marathon County Environmental Resources and Executive Committees for advancing an agreement to the Marathon County Board that would grant ATC permission to build part of the Arrowhead-Weston power line on county-owned property.

“This is an important step forward for the Arrowhead-Weston project,” said Mark C. Williamson, Vice President of Major Projects for ATC. “We remain cautiously optimistic that the county board will authorize the county to grant an easement for the use of the 1.6 miles of county-owned land crossed by the project.”

The Committee’s recommendation to advance the agreement for consideration comes on the heels of six weeks of negotiations between the Committee and ATC. “We are pleased that we were able to come to agreement with the Committee on the conditions necessary for it to move forward. The Committee and ATC negotiated professionally, honestly and in good faith to reach an agreement. We hope that the success with the Committee is a model for future negotiations with other counties,” said Williamson.

The Arrowhead-Weston project will be constructed on nearly 80-percent existing rights-of-way (transmission lines, gas pipelines, railroads or highways) and will run from Wausau to Duluth. The line will cross the property of about 850 landowners who will be compensated for the use of their land based on fair-market value. Counties and other local governments through which the project passes will receive one-time environmental and annual impact payments.

Construction has begun on the western end of the line in Minnesota, and successful negotiations with private landowners in Marathon and Clark counties have resulted in securing more than 80 voluntary easements. Construction is expected to begin in Marathon and Clark counties later this year.

“We are making progress, and the decision by the Committee is another step toward getting this project completed so that we can help ensure that the lights will stay on and businesses will have the electricity they need to grow and create new jobs,” Williamson said.

ATC plans, constructs, operates, maintains and will expand its transmission facilities to provide adequate and reliable transmission of power. ATC provides nondiscriminatory service to all customers, supporting effective competition in energy markets without favoring any market participant. A member of the Midwest ISO regional transmission organization, ATC owns more than 8,900 miles of transmission lines with a total investment of approximately $1 billion in facilities in portions of Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. For more information, visit our Web site at www.atcllc.com.

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