PSC sends BECI developer’s utility application to a contested-case hearing as 22 legislative offices agree to meet on 765 kV lines

The Commission’s notice came two days after 173 residents went to the State Capitol to ask for a full public hearing. Requests to become a party are due October 29.

MADISON, Wis. The application by Midcontinent Grid Solutions Wisconsin, the developer of the proposed BECI 765,000‑volt transmission line, to become a Wisconsin electric utility will be decided in a contested case with a hearing. The Public Service Commission of WisconsinThe state board that decides whether power lines get built and who may operate as a utility in Wisconsin. issued its notice of proceeding on Thursday, October 15, two days after 173 residents went to the State Capitol for “A Day of Power” and asked legislators to press the Commission for a full public hearing.

The notice makes docket 2708-NC-100 “a Class 1 proceeding,” which in Wisconsin law is a contested case, where parties present witnesses and evidence at a trial-type hearing. Requests to become a party are due October 29. Any member of the public may offer an opinion “either in writing, or in person at a public hearing,” the notice says, and the Commission will announce how “at a future date.” No hearing has been scheduled. No 765 Line will publish a guide to taking part in the coming days.

Three legislators filed letters in the docket asking for a full public hearing before the Commission acted: State Sen. Brad Pfaff on October 12, Rep. Tara Johnson on October 14 and Rep. Travis Tranel on the morning of October 15.

On October 13, teams of residents from Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Jefferson, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Vernon and Walworth counties met with legislators or their staff in 49 offices. They asked each office for three commitments: meet with No 765 Line and colleagues across the aisle by December 15 to prepare bipartisan legislation on how Wisconsin decides on high-voltage lines; support a public informational hearing on MISO’s Tranche 2.1 plan, the regional grid plan that includes both MariBell and BECI; and send the Commission a letter asking for a full public hearing in docket 2708-NC-100.

By October 15, 26 of those offices had said yes to at least one request: 22 to the December meeting, 16 to the informational hearing and 11 to the letter. Most meetings were with staff, and several answers came with conditions. A yes is counted only where a team’s report card, a written reply or a follow-up call records one. Every office’s answer is posted at no765line.org/news-day-of-power-recap/.

“Residents asked for a real hearing, and lawmakers from both parties put that request in writing,” said Michael Browne of No 765 Line, Inc. “Now we will help people take part in it. We will also write to all 22 offices by October 23 to set a date for the December meeting.”

“My family has farmed this land since 1871. BECI’s study area crosses our farm, including the irrigation that waters our Christmas trees, strawberry fields and peach orchard. In September I sent the developer 72 questions about what that would mean for us, and I’m still waiting for answers. A hearing is where those answers belong: on the record,” said Julie Schoeneberg, owner of Creek Bed Farmacy, a strawberry and agritourism farm near Poynette in Columbia County, who met with legislators’ offices on October 13.

As of October 14, 90 towns, villages, cities and counties had gone on the record about the two lines, all but one by resolution, and 82 of them oppose the lines or their routes. Each is listed at no765line.org/take-action/resolution-tracker/. On October 14, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s board voiced concerns about both projects. “These projects are moving too fast to properly address our members’ concerns and thoroughly evaluate the negative consequences of infrastructure of this scale,” said WFBF President Brad Olson.

The utility application is a separate case from the construction permit each line will need. MariBell’s developers expect to apply for that permit in late 2026, and BECI’s developer in early 2027. Federal regulators have already granted BECI’s developer an incentive that lets it seek to recover, through transmission rates, 100 percent of “prudently incurred costs” spent since June 29, 2026, if the project is abandoned for reasons beyond its control. Costs that federal regulators find prudent could be recovered even if the line is never built.

Photos for publication, with captions and credit: A Day of Power photos (ZIP, 11.3 MB), also on our press kit page.

Reporters may email press@no765line.org to arrange interviews with participants from their coverage area.

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No 765 Line, Inc. is a Wisconsin 501(c)(3) nonprofit that equips communities to take part in the energy decisions being made about their land, their rates, and their future. It opposes the proposed MariBell and BECI 765 kV transmission projects and publishes its sources at no765line.org.

Header photo: residents fill the Capitol Rotunda on October 13. Photo: Narayan Mahon Photography for No 765 Line.

Sources

1. The notice: Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Notice of Proceeding, docket 2708-NC-100, signed and served October 15, 2026, PSC REF# 615173. PSC document (PDF)
2. The three letters, docket 2708-NC-100: Sen. Brad Pfaff, October 12 (REF# 614805); Rep. Tara Johnson, October 14 (REF# 615117); Rep. Travis Tranel, October 15 (REF# 615148).
3. Each office’s answers, the three requests and how a yes is counted: A Day of Power: recap.
4. Local governments on the record: No 765 Line resolution tracker, with a link to each resolution or set of minutes. no765line.org/take-action/resolution-tracker/
5. The Farm Bureau: Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, “WFBF Board Voices Concerns with BECI, MariBell Projects,” October 14, 2026. wfbf.com
6. Filing plans: MariBell Transmission Project, Wisconsin regulatory process (“4th quarter of 2026”), maribelltransmission.com; Midcontinent Grid Solutions, BECI project schedule (file with the PSC early 2027), mgs-projects.com/BECI.
7. The incentive: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, order in Docket ER26-2376-000, June 26, 2026, 195 FERC ¶ 61,251 (Abandoned Plant Incentive “for 100% of prudently incurred costs expended on and after June 29, 2026, if the BECI Project were to be abandoned for reasons beyond MGS Wisconsin’s control”). FERC eLibrary, accession 20260626-3115