La Crosse’s Dairyland Power Cooperative and GridLiance are developing a high-voltage transmission line across Wisconsin’s Driftless region, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
The line would be the first 765-kilovolt line in the state and according to those in charge of the MariBell project, it will improve the Midwest power grid’s reliability and lower energy costs.
The line will stretch 140 miles, from Marion, Minnesota, along the Mississippi River into western Wisconsin to Bell Center. A different proposed line would implement the Maribell project’s line and stretch to Rochester, Minnesota, and into central Wisconsin.
The project was approved a year ago by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the central U.S.’s grid operator.
The Maribell project was approved in anticipation of data center power usage, according to the report.
