A renewable energy transmission project is in trouble, after a federal judge ruled that it would block a land swap needed to build a power line through a wildlife refuge on the Mississippi River.

The renewable energy electricity transmission project in America is expected to be implemented by two developers, ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative, and a federal judge in the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, William Conley, issued a ruling. Relates to U.S. government approvals for a land swap for the construction of the Cardinal Hickory Creek high-voltage line in a wildlife refuge at a cost of approximately $649 million.

The goal of the ruling is to prevent the transmission line from being routed through the Upper Mississippi River Fish and Wildlife Refuge until the judge can consider what environmental groups have presented. The three companies expect that, once completed, the line will connect more than 160 of America's renewable energy projects to the electricity grid. In the American Midwest.

Ben Bwarth, Executive Director of Operations at Dairy Land, confirmed that the line is considered a vital and essential link to the future of renewable energy developments in our region. Therefore, its construction and operation will reduce electricity costs and improve the reliability and flexibility of the region's transportation system, which supports the environmental connectivity of renewable energy generation in the Midwest region.

The land exchange process includes the project company obtaining about 20 acres of wildlife reserve land in the path of the electricity transmission line in exchange for 35 acres of land to be added elsewhere in the reserve. The Driftless Area Land Conservancy and the National Association of Wildlife Reserves filed a lawsuit against the government. America to prevent land exchanges, and approvals violate the law to improve the wildlife protection system; Because building a transmission line on reserve lands destroys the floodplain, which contradicts the purpose of preserving it.

The court made the right decision; Because the transmission line will cause irreparable damage to the nature reserve, and the developers do not agree with the court’s decision to prevent construction in the last mile of one of the most important renewable energy electricity transmission projects in America, which is approximately 102 miles long, and the project obtained the necessary permit, which is consistent with environmental protection laws. In America, studies conducted over the years for land exchange showed that the project would support the improvement of the reserve system and increase its total area.