MGS utility status PSC proceeding: participation options for landowners, local governments and organizations, October 29

On Thursday, October 15, two days after residents filled the Capitol Rotunda to ask lawmakers for a full public hearing, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin issued its Notice of Proceeding in docket 2708-NC-100.¹ That is the case in which Midcontinent Grid Solutions Wisconsin, LLC, the developer of the proposed BECI 765,000-volt line, asks to become a Wisconsin electric utility. The notice gives landowners, residents, organizations and local governments two ways in: as members of the public who comment, and as parties who intervene.¹ Three legislators had asked for a full public hearing in the docket: Sen. Brad Pfaff on October 12, Rep. Tara Johnson on October 14 and Rep. Travis Tranel on the morning of October 15.² The notice promises one.

Header photo: the Wisconsin State Capitol at night. Photo: Ryan Wick, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Our read. We think the Commission moved because people showed up, and the public record is consistent with that. The application sat for 133 days without a notice. The last company to ask for this kind of certificate, ITC Midwest, got its notice in 77 days.⁸ On October 13, 173 residents from ten counties were in the Capitol asking lawmakers to press for a hearing.¹⁷ At 3:49 that afternoon the Commission posted the agenda for its October 15 meeting with this docket as item 14.³ Of the 17 items on that agenda, it is the only one that never closes its parenthesis, “(proposed notice of proceeding”, and the only one missing the dash every other item carries after its docket number.³ The notice issued two days later still reads “with the all conditions necessary.”¹ These are the small things a document shows when it was finished in a hurry. The Commission has not said why it acted when it did. What the record shows is a case our organization did not learn existed until September, and that by October had 82 local governments on the record against the lines, three legislators’ letters in its docket and a Rotunda full of residents asking for a hearing.¹⁷ We take the notice as a sign the Commission is listening to the people in the path of this line, and we intend to keep giving it reasons to.

What did the Commission decide?

The notice settles the case type, the ways in and one deadline, and nothing more.¹ The case is “a Class 1 proceeding as defined in Wis. Stat. § 227.01(3)(a),” which in state law is a kind of contested case: a proceeding that runs like a trial, with written testimony filed in advance, discovery and cross-examination before an administrative law judge.⁷ PSC staff put it plainly in an email to No 765 Line and other groups that afternoon: the docket “will be treated as a Class 1 proceeding … and there will be a hearing.”¹⁸

The notice sets two ways to take part. A member of the public may “offer an opinion on this matter either in writing, or in person at a public hearing,” without becoming a party. A party, also called an intervenor, takes part “at a trial-type hearing,” offers “expert witnesses and other technical evidence, prepared and filed in advance,” and “may also conduct discovery and cross-examine witnesses.”¹

It sets one deadline: 14 days from October 15 to ask to become a party. Everything else, including “when, where, and how” the public and the parties may take part, comes “at a future date.”¹ No hearing has been scheduled.

Is this the permit to build the line?

No. This case decides whether MGS Wisconsin may operate as a public utility at all, and whether it counts as a “transmission company” exempt from the state’s holding-company law.¹ The route is not decided here. The developer’s own application says the route “will be finalized in a CPCN proceeding,” the construction-permit case it says it will file in early 2027.^{4, 6} The notice also classes this case as a “Type III” action under the state’s environmental rules, which “normally do not require” an environmental impact statement.¹ The application says this certificate comes first, as it did for ITC Midwest, which “was required to obtain a Certificate of Authority … prior to being able to file an application for a CPCN.”⁴ Whether this case ends before that filing is not known.

When does a landowner, a local government or an organization have to decide?

By Thursday, October 29, 2026, in writing, through the PSC’s filing system. The notice counts 14 days from its October 15 service date and sets no time of day, so do not wait for the last hour. Its instructions, in full:¹

INTERVENTION. Any person desiring to become a party shall file a request for party status, known as a request to intervene, under Wis. Stat. § 227.44(2m) and Wis. Admin. Code § PSC 2.21 no later than 14 days from the date of service of this notice using the ERF system.

To file such a request, go to the Commission’s E-Services Portal at https://apps.psc.wi.gov, click on the “ERF Upload Documents” link on the left side menu bar. On the next page, log on if you are a registered ERF user, create a new account if you do not have an existing account, or contact PSC Records Management staff at (608) 261-8521 or via e-mail at PSCRecordsMail@wisconsin.gov for assistance.

A person desiring to become a party who lacks access to the internet shall make a request to intervene by U.S. mail addressed to:

Docket 2708-NC-100 Intervention Request
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
P.O. Box 7854
Madison, WI 53707-7854

At the time of filing, the person making the request to intervene shall serve a copy of the request on existing parties. An existing party may respond to the request within 5 days of service. A party wishing to request intervenor compensation should do so as soon as practicable and in accordance with Wis. Admin. Code § PSC 3.03.

The notice says to send a copy to the existing parties: as of October 15 the docket’s service list named only the applicant and four newsrooms, and the five groups that have asked to intervene since July are not yet listed as parties.^{9, 10} And a request filed after October 29 is possible, but the rule says a late intervenor “shall accept the record of the proceeding or docket as the record was developed prior to the late intervention.”¹⁶ Whether you or your group qualifies as a party is a question for your own attorney. A town or village board that wants to intervene needs to authorize it at a meeting before the deadline.

How can we learn what intervention involves?

Ask the Commission, and ask now. It has taught this before: on November 7, 2018, while the Cardinal-Hickory Creek case was before it, the PSC held a “Public Participation Informational Meeting” in Madison, where its chief legal counsel walked through contested cases, intervening, and intervenor compensation, using a high-voltage line as the sample case.¹² Nothing says whether the Commission will do it again, and with 14 days on the clock it would have to do so very quickly. Two people to ask: the case coordinator the notice names, Eric Griffin, at (608) 267-9624 or Eric.Griffin@wisconsin.gov,¹ and the PSC’s Director of Communications and External Affairs, Meghan Sovey-Lashua, at (608) 266-9600 or Meghan.Sovey1@wisconsin.gov.

PSC staff are already offering help. In an email to No 765 Line and other groups on October 15, the chief of staff to the Commission’s chairperson wrote that staff “would be happy to set up a time to chat through the next steps in the process with your organization’s leadership.”¹⁸ No 765 Line’s board meets with PSC staff on Tuesday, October 20, and we will post what we learn. If PSC staff contact your organization or local government, please tell us at info@no765line.org so the answers reach everyone.

What else can we do right now?

Subscribe to the docket. PSC staff recommend it in that same email: anyone following the case should set up a docket subscription to receive notices “such as information on scheduling and opportunities to submit public comments.”¹⁸ The “ERF – EZ Subscriptions” box sits on the right side of the PSC’s ERF home page. Enter the docket number, 2708-NC-100, and your email address, and request a code. The PSC’s own quick reference guide walks through it, and through creating an account if you plan to file.¹¹

Read the PSC’s Public Participation page. It explains the difference between following a case, commenting “for the record,” and intervening, and it says the intervention window is “typically” 14 days after the notice that opens a docket.¹⁹

Tell your local government. Town, village, city and county boards, and school boards, can file in this docket, and two in Lodi already have.¹³ The October 29 date applies to them too if they want to be parties.

Do not contact a commissioner. The PSC’s own website says: “If you wish to comment on the record on a pending matter, please do not contact individual commissioners.”¹⁴ A message to one commissioner about a pending contested case can be a prohibited ex parte contact under Wis. Stat. § 227.50. The same law allows contact with PSC staff other than the hearing examiner, the chairperson and the commissioners, so a call to the case coordinator is fine.¹⁴

Background for groups weighing intervention

Who is asking. MGS Wisconsin is a limited liability company formed for this one project. Its application says it is a joint venture of Transource Energy, LLC, owned by AEP and Evergy, and BHE U.S. Transmission, LLC, part of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.⁴ In 2026 it told federal regulators it has “no operational assets, revenues, or financial history.”⁵ The line it proposes would run about 190 miles from Crawford County to the Illinois line, and its application says it “will be the first 765 kV line in Wisconsin.”^{4, 6} Beyond the certificate, the application asks the Commission to declare 18 sections of the utility statutes “not presently applicable” to it.⁴ What a certificate would mean for private land along the route is a question for your own attorney.

How long it may take. ITC Midwest’s notice of proceeding was issued on November 4, 2013, and the Commission decided that case on May 8, 2014.⁸ State law also sets a clock, and the Pfaff and Tranel letters lead with it.² Under Wis. Stat. § 196.49(5r), if the Commission holds no hearing it must decide within 90 days of the notice that opens the docket. If it holds a hearing, it has 180 days from the notice of hearing. The chairperson may add up to 90 or 180 more days for good cause. If the Commission misses its deadline, the law says the certificate “is considered to have issued.”¹⁵ Which deadline applies to this case, and from what date, is not something the notice says.

Legal note. This article describes a public process. It is general information, not legal advice. Whether you qualify to intervene, what to put in a request, and what a certificate of authority would mean for your land are questions for your own attorney.

Sources & notes

1. 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, PSC document (PDF).
2. Sen. Brad Pfaff, letter requesting a full public hearing, October 12, 2026, PSC REF# 614805; Rep. Tara Johnson, October 14, 2026, PSC REF# 615117; Rep. Travis Tranel, October 15, 2026, PSC REF# 615148.
3. PSC, Agenda for Commission Open Meeting of October 15, 2026, item 14, received on ERF October 13, 2026, 3:49 p.m., PSC REF# 614950. The agenda says the meeting was held virtually, “streamed live and available for replay on the Commission’s YouTube channel.”
4. Midcontinent Grid Solutions Wisconsin, LLC, Application for a Certificate of Authority, June 4, 2026, PSC REF# 593329. Page numbers are PDF pages: owners, p. 4; CPCN plan, p. 6; “first 765 kV line in Wisconsin,” p. 19; the route “finalized in a CPCN proceeding,” p. 20; ITC Midwest and the certificate before the CPCN, p. 39; statutes “not presently applicable,” p. 45.
5. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Order on Transmission Rate Incentives and Accepting Formula Rate and Protocols, Docket ER26-2376-000, 195 FERC ¶ 61,251, June 26, 2026, P 16 (p. 7), restating the developer’s own filing, FERC eLibrary, accession 20260626-3115.
6. Midcontinent Grid Solutions, BECI project page (route length and schedule), mgs-projects.com/BECI.
7. Wis. Stat. § 227.01(3)(a), docs.legis.wisconsin.gov.
8. PSC, Notice of Proceeding, docket 2707-NC-100 (ITC Midwest LLC), November 4, 2013, PSC REF# 192740; PSC, Final Decision, docket 2707-NC-100, May 8, 2014, PSC REF# 204180.
9. PSC, 2708-NC-100 Mailing List, October 15, 2026, PSC REF# 615177.
10. Requests to intervene, docket 2708-NC-100: Wisconsin Utilities Association, July 23, 2026, PSC REF# 599345; WPPI Energy, July 24, 2026, PSC REF# 599738; Dairyland Power Cooperative, July 30, 2026, PSC REF# 600933; Lake Wisconsin Land and Community Alliance, Inc., September 9, 2026, PSC REF# 609696; Concerned Citizens of Bear Valley, Inc., October 15, 2026, PSC REF# 615124. The developer’s response asking that the first three be denied, and that a judge first decide whether the case can go on briefs: MGS Wisconsin, Response, August 5, 2026, PSC REF# 604914 (paraphrase; see its section I and the section headed “Matters of Law to be Resolved on Briefs”). All filings are in the docket on the PSC’s filing system.
11. PSC, ERF Quick Reference Guide, August 2022, apps.psc.wi.gov (PDF). ERF home page: apps.psc.wi.gov.
12. PSC, “Public Participation Informational Meeting: What you need to know to participate in PSC Proceedings,” Cynthia Smith, Chief Legal Counsel, Madison, November 7, 2018 (slides 1 to 3, “Participation as Party vs. Member of Public,” “Intervenor Compensation”), psc.wi.gov (PDF). The Cardinal-Hickory Creek case is docket 5-CE-146, decided September 26, 2019 (PSC REF# 376391).
13. Town of Lodi, resolution, filed October 9, 2026, PSC REF# 614776; School District of Lodi, Board of Education resolution, filed October 7, 2026, PSC REF# 614523.
14. PSC, “Our Commissioners” (rules regarding ex parte communications), psc.wi.gov. Wis. Stat. § 227.50(1)(a) and (1)(am)4, docs.legis.wisconsin.gov.
15. Wis. Stat. § 196.49(5r), docs.legis.wisconsin.gov.
16. Wis. Admin. Code § PSC 2.21(4)(d), docs.legis.wisconsin.gov.
17. No 765 Line, Inc., “A Day of Power: recap” (173 residents, ten counties, every office’s answer). Resolution tracker, counts as of October 14, 2026 (90 local governments on the record, 82 opposed to the lines or their routes).
18. Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, email from the chief of staff to the Commission’s chairperson to No 765 Line, Inc. and other organizations, October 15, 2026, 2:20 p.m., “PSC Docket 2708-NC-100,” which asked the recipients to share its information with their organizations. Quoted from the written record; on file with No 765 Line, Inc.
19. PSC, “Public Participation,” psc.wi.gov.