On Thursday, the Wisconsin Assembly voted to advance a contentious bill blocking nonincumbent competition on long distance power line projects in the state, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. Assembly Bill 470 passed on a voice vote without discussion.
The bill’s proponents say the measure would help reduce construction costs and lower customer rates; the bill would give incumbent companies the exclusive right to build any Midwest grid operator-approved transmission project.
Its opponents have argued, however, that the move protects merely the interests of in-state transmission companies, stifling competition and driving up ratepayers’ energy costs.
The measure now goes before the state Senate. Like a previous version of the bill that died in committee last session, it has been opposed by Citizens Utility Board, Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group, and other consumer advocates as well as free market conservative group Americans for Prosperity.
