PSC staff: comments filed too soon are not part of the evidence

On Tuesday, October 20, four people from No 765 Line met online with Public Service Commission staff about docket 2708-NC-100, the case in which BECI’s developer, MGS Wisconsin, asks to become a Wisconsin electric utility. The next morning we sent staff our notes from the call and 11 follow-up questions, and that evening one more. On Thursday, October 22, staff answered in writing.¹ For anyone who has written a comment, their first answer matters most: a comment uploaded before the PSC opens its comment period is “not considered part of the evidence, and the Commissioners cannot review them.” Between October 16 and October 21, ten comments and letters went into the docket.^{1, 3}

Header photo: the Wisconsin State Capitol dome, Madison. Photo: Daderot, CC0, cropped and darkened.

Should I file my comment now?

Not yet, in our view. Write it now and file it when the comment period opens. PSC staff wrote that “the PSC cannot accept comments until it opens the comment period and sets hearing dates. Comments sent too soon are not considered part of the evidence, and the Commissioners cannot review them. The PSC will give notice before the comment period and hearings begin.”¹ The PSC’s Public Participation page heads its comment section “Provide a comment ‘for the record’ during an open comment period.”⁴

That changes advice we gave earlier. Our October 8 packet for legislators, our Day of Power fact cards (“the docket takes filings now”) and our October 17 article told people and local boards they could file letters in this docket now.¹¹ Staff did not say whether letters and resolutions already uploaded will be carried into the record later. If you or your board filed one, we suggest filing it again once the comment period opens.

Commenting and intervening count equally

There are two ways to be heard in this case, and a person or group uses one of them. PSC staff wrote: “The Commissioners consider public comments and input from intervenors equally and one option is not more important than the other.” They added that “there is growing misinformation that you are only ‘officially’ participating if you intervene.”¹

Staff’s written answers kept our summary that intervening is “a large commitment,” and added that “intervenors may not participate in public hearings or submit public comments.”¹ Staff also wrote that “Commission staff frequently issue formal questions (data requests) of applicants based on public comments.” In another transmission case, which staff did not name, data requests that followed landowners’ comments on a draft environmental impact statement “led to changes to the project.”¹ That was a construction case, where the route was in play. This one is not.

This case covers the certificate and a holding-company exemption

The October 15 notice names two issues: whether MGS Wisconsin gets a Certificate of Authority to operate as a utility, and whether it is a “transmission company” that “qualifies for the exception to the Wisconsin Public Utility Holding Company Act (WUHCA) for transmission companies.”² The route will be decided in a later construction-permit case, called a CPCN (Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity), which MGS says it will file in early 2027.¹²

For anyone weighing intervention, staff wrote that “a request based only on how the line would affect someone’s land may not be accepted, because the route is not in this docket. Financial, legal, or utility expertise is more likely to be relevant.”¹ Asked whether a request turned down here would affect a later request in the CPCN case, staff answered, “No, a previous intervention request would not impact this.”¹

Whether MGS can file for its permit before this case ends is unclear

MGS’s own application says that “like MGS Wisconsin, ITC Midwest was required to obtain a Certificate of Authority from the Commission to operate as a public utility prior to being able to file an application for a CPCN.”¹⁴ MGS also says it will file its CPCN application in early 2027.¹² This case has no hearing date, and the notice sets no end date.^{2, 3} No document we have found says what happens if MGS is ready to file for its permit while this case is still open, or whether the PSC would accept that filing. We do not know, and we will report it when the record answers it.

If your group is weighing intervention

1. Decide well before October 29. Staff advise that a town or village board that wants to intervene meet and decide well ahead of the deadline. The judge “has considered late requests in the past for good reason, but filing late is a risk,” staff wrote, and municipal governments “are also welcome to submit comments if they do not have the time/resources to intervene.”¹
2. File on ERF, and file early. “Anything submitted to ERF up until 11:59 pm will be date/time stamped and considered received that day.” A filing made after 4:30 p.m. carries its upload time but shows up in the docket the next morning. Staff “highly advise filing early or during normal business hours in case technical assistance is needed.”¹
3. Without internet access, use the mail. Staff told us parties must use ERF. The notice allows one exception: a person “who lacks access to the internet” may mail a request to Docket 2708-NC-100 Intervention Request, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, P.O. Box 7854, Madison, WI 53707-7854.² Staff did not tell us whether a mailed request must arrive by October 29 or only be postmarked by then, so call PSC Records Management at (608) 261-8521 before relying on the mail.
4. Say why you belong in this case. PSC staff wrote that the request must explain your interest, how the decision may affect you, and how you plan to help with the issues through written and oral testimony. The judge decides under Wis. Stat. § 227.44(2m) and Wis. Admin. Code § PSC 2.21.^{1, 5}
5. Send a copy to the existing parties when you file. Staff told us email is enough. An existing party has 5 days to respond.^{1, 2}
6. Talk to an attorney. Asked for a past example of someone intervening without a lawyer, staff wrote: “We cannot subjectively say when participation without an attorney was successful. We recommend anyone interested in intervening talks to an attorney about how to approach the docket.”¹

The five groups that asked to intervene before the notice, the Wisconsin Utilities Association, WPPI Energy, Dairyland Power Cooperative, the Lake Wisconsin Land and Community Alliance and Concerned Citizens of Bear Valley, do not need to file again, staff said.^{1, 3}

Dairyland, part of a BECI bid MISO did not pick, is already in

In 2025, MISO took bids to build BECI. Dairyland Power Cooperative, American Transmission Company (ATC), Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois and GridLiance Heartland submitted one proposal together. MISO selected Transource, which now develops BECI through MGS, its joint venture with BHE. Dairyland is also one of MariBell’s two developers.¹⁵ Dairyland asked to intervene in this case on July 30. Its request says the outcome may affect “the regulatory framework governing entities engaged in transmission service in Wisconsin,” and it asked the PSC to hold a contested case with a public hearing.¹⁶

ATC has not filed a request of its own.³ The Wisconsin Utilities Association’s July 23 request calls ATC “the only transmission company authorized to do business in Wisconsin” and says many WUA members contributed the transmission assets that formed it. The same request describes MGS’s application as “arguing ‘a’ transmission company is distinct from ‘the’ transmission company.”¹⁶ MGS asked the PSC to deny both requests, mainly as premature.³

Intervenor money is limited

On the October 20 call, PSC staff told us the Commission’s CPCN construction cases have gone from 3 or 4 a year to more than 40, with the same number of staff. They also told us that new questions now come up almost every week that earlier cases do not answer.¹⁷ The record shows what that means here: by MGS’s own application, BECI “will be the first 765 kV line in Wisconsin.”¹⁴ And by the Wisconsin Utilities Association’s account, the last case like this one was ITC Midwest’s, which the PSC decided in 2014.¹⁶

The PSC’s Intervenor Compensation program helps pay intervenors’ attorney fees, expert witness fees and other costs.⁶ About $475,000 is left for the state budget period that ends June 30, 2027, staff told us, with about $105,000 in requests already pending.¹

Staff listed what that money has to cover: “rate cases, data center tariffs, utility generation projects, and the MariBell and possibly BECI CPCNs.” They wrote that the Commission “has had to drastically reduce awards from the requested amounts,” and that “groups and individuals can join as one intervenor to share the work and costs.”¹ The notice says a party that wants compensation should ask “as soon as practicable and in accordance with Wis. Admin. Code § PSC 3.03.”² That rule says an application “shall be received by the commission not more than 15 days after the prehearing conference,” unless the Commission extends the time. Chapter PSC 3 sets who qualifies.⁶

No hearing dates yet

The administrative law judge decides the hearing format. Staff told us that “recent practice has been hearings near the project with a daytime and evening session, and one recent case had multiple locations plus a virtual option.”¹ Before any hearing, the judge holds a prehearing conference to set the schedule. It “will be noticed in the docket,” and staff wrote that “all hearings are broadcast live” on the PSC’s YouTube hearings channel.^{1, 9}

Commenters’ names and addresses are public

“A commenter’s name and address are public and included in the official record,” staff wrote, and each person must attest that they are a real person when filing a comment or testifying at a public hearing. Whether anything can be withheld “needs further investigation.”¹ Petitions run into the same rule. Staff called them “tricky because of the requirement for attestation” and wrote that an organization planning one should “work with the ALJ ahead of time to see if it’s feasible and what legal requirements need to be met.”¹

State law sets a decision deadline

We asked whether this case has a deadline, and whether a missed deadline counts as approval. Staff answered “Yes” and pointed to Wis. Stat. § 196.49(5r)(am).¹ That law says that when a hearing is held, the Commission must take final action “within 180 days after the commission issues a notice of hearing.” The chairperson may add 180 days “for good cause.” If the Commission misses the deadline, it “is considered to have issued a certificate of authority.” If no hearing is held, the same law gives the Commission 90 days “after the commission issues a notice opening a docket,” with one 90-day extension.⁸ As of October 22, the docket holds no notice of hearing, and staff did not tell us when the deadline begins to run.³

PSC staff on meeting the developers before a CPCN filing

On the call, staff suggested that people use the time before a CPCN filing to raise route concerns with the developers. MGS is BECI’s developer. Dairyland Power Cooperative is one of MariBell’s two developers. Staff gave us written permission to share the suggestion, in these words:¹

“The most valuable time to get a transmission or generation developer to make changes to a proposed project is before a CPCN is filed. We highly recommend landowners, community leaders, and elected officials take the calls and offers to meet with MGS (or Dairyland) officials and have their staff and engineers visit their land. Without these conversations, changes cannot be made. Misinformation is being shared that it benefits landowners and interested parties to not meet with these entities. It does not.”

Whether and how to meet is each person’s own decision. Our Landowners page lists what people in the corridor keep in mind before any conversation, starting with keeping a written record of every contact and signing nothing on the spot.

Questions go to Consumer Affairs or the case coordinator

Start with PSC Consumer Affairs for general questions.¹⁰ For this docket, the notice names the case coordinator, Eric Griffin, at (608) 267-9624 or Eric.Griffin@wisconsin.gov.² Staff cannot give legal advice. Do not contact a commissioner: the PSC asks that people commenting on a pending matter not contact individual commissioners.¹³

Before October 29

• Subscribe to the docket. On the PSC’s ERF home page, find the “ERF – EZ Subscriptions” box, enter 2708-NC-100 and your email address, click “Send Code Now,” then enter the code and select “Subscribe.” You will get an email each time a document is filed, including the notices of the comment period and hearings.¹
• Write your comment and keep it until the PSC opens the comment period. We will post the date when it is announced.
• Tell your town, village or county board now. If it wants to intervene, staff advise it meet and decide well before October 29. If it would rather comment, it can wait for the comment period.
• Forward this page to anyone who has already uploaded a comment, so they know staff say it is not part of the evidence and can file it again when the comment period opens.

Legal note. This article describes a public process and reports what PSC staff told us. It is general information, not legal advice, and nothing in it binds the administrative law judge, PSC staff or the Commissioners. Whether you qualify to intervene and what to put in a request are questions for your own attorney.

Sources & notes

1. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin staff, written answers to No 765 Line, Inc.’s notes and questions from an October 20, 2026 meeting, email of October 22, 2026, with an earlier staff email of October 21, 2026 carrying the case coordinator’s standard reply to people asking how to intervene. Staff answered by correcting our written notes of the call; where this article quotes a phrase from our notes that staff left unchanged, it says so. Quoted from the written record; on file with No 765 Line, Inc. Attributed to “PSC staff” at staff’s request.
2. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Notice of Proceeding, docket 2708-NC-100, signed and served October 15, 2026, PSC REF# 615173, pp. 1 to 3 (scope, intervention by ERF or by mail, service on existing parties and the 5-day response, PSC Records Management, case coordinator, intervenor compensation under § PSC 3.03), PSC document (PDF).
3. PSC Electronic Records Filing, docket 2708-NC-100, checked October 22, 2026: ten filings typed as comments or correspondence between October 16 and October 21, 2026 (PSC REF# 615263 to 615682); no notice of hearing and no prehearing conference notice. Requests to intervene: Wisconsin Utilities Association, PSC REF# 599345; WPPI Energy, 599738; Dairyland Power Cooperative, 600933; Lake Wisconsin Land and Community Alliance, Inc., 609696; Concerned Citizens of Bear Valley, Inc., 615124. MGS Wisconsin’s responses asking that the first four be denied as premature: PSC REF# 604914 (August 5, 2026) and PSC REF# 612583 (September 23, 2026).
4. PSC, “Public Participation,” section “Provide a comment ‘for the record’ during an open comment period,” psc.wi.gov.
5. Wis. Stat. § 227.44(2m), docs.legis.wisconsin.gov; Wis. Admin. Code § PSC 2.21, docs.legis.wisconsin.gov.
6. PSC, “Intervenor Compensation,” psc.wi.gov, with its list of recent awards; Wis. Stat. § 196.31, docs.legis.wisconsin.gov; Wis. Admin. Code ch. PSC 3, including § PSC 3.03(1) (application deadline), docs.legis.wisconsin.gov.
7. Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Comparative Summary of Provisions, 2025 Act 15, Public Service Commission, August 2025, item 9, “Intervenor Compensation Funding,” p. 790 (base funding “$542,500 annually”), docs.legis.wisconsin.gov (PDF).
8. Wis. Stat. § 196.49(5r)(am) and (b), docs.legis.wisconsin.gov.
9. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin – Hearings, youtube.com/@PSCWI-Hearings.
10. PSC, “Consumer Resources,” psc.wi.gov.
11. No 765 Line, Inc., Day of Power legislator packet (October 8, 2026 edition, “Filing Letter A”); Day of Power fact cards (“Is there a PSC case I can file in now?” and “How does a legislator send Letter A?”); “MGS utility status PSC proceeding: participation options for landowners, local governments and organizations, October 29”, October 17, 2026 (“Tell your local government”).
12. Midcontinent Grid Solutions, BECI project page (schedule), mgs-projects.com/BECI.
13. PSC, “Our Commissioners” (rules regarding ex parte communications), psc.wi.gov.
14. Midcontinent Grid Solutions Wisconsin, LLC, Application for a Certificate of Authority, June 4, 2026, PSC REF# 593329, PDF p. 19 (“first 765 kV line in Wisconsin”) and p. 39 (ITC Midwest and the certificate before the CPCN).
15. MISO, BECI Selection Report, January 6, 2026, pp. 7 and 9 (six proposals from five teams; the joint ATC, Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois, Dairyland and GridLiance Heartland proposal; Transource selected), cdn.misoenergy.org (PDF).
16. Dairyland Power Cooperative, Request for Intervention and Notice of Appearance, July 30, 2026, PSC REF# 600933, pp. 1 to 2; Wisconsin Utilities Association, Notice of Appearance and Request to Intervene, July 23, 2026, PSC REF# 599345, pp. 1 to 2 (ATC; the “a” and “the” transmission company argument, n. 3; ITC Midwest, docket 2707-NC-100, as the last case of this kind).
17. PSC staff, remarks on the October 20, 2026 video call with No 765 Line, Inc. (paraphrased from our recording of the call, at about 11:30 and 43:00; recording on file with No 765 Line, Inc.).