The Vernon County Board of Supervisors was scheduled to meet at 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 22 in the County Board Room of the Courthouse Annex in Viroqua. The agenda included public comment at the start of the meeting, with a virtual attendance option also available.
Supervisors were set to weigh three related resolutions. One, Resolution 2026-62, would ask Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Legislature to enact a statewide moratorium on building 765-kilovolt transmission lines. The county's General Government Committee voted on Oct. 19 to advance that request.
A second measure, Resolution 2026-61, would name a county supervisor as Vernon County's advocacy liaison for the MariBell transmission project through at least Dec. 31, 2028. The liaison would be a contact point for affected landowners, coordinate with neighboring counties and share the county's position with lawmakers. A third measure, Resolution 2026-63, would update the county's agreement with Progressive Law Group LLC, after the board previously authorized up to $10,000 for legal consultation on transmission issues and possible action before the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.
The discussion followed a Sept. 17 presentation by Molly Bohn, a regional representative for U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden. She presented a letter co-signed by Van Orden, state Sen. Howard Marklein, Rep. Travis Tranel and Rep. Tony Kurtz that raised concerns about groundwater risks from drilling in karst geology, along with property rights and effects on agriculture and tourism. State Sen. Brad Pfaff and state Rep. Tara Johnson have separately proposed legislation to prioritize underground high-voltage direct current lines or existing highway and railroad corridors.
Vernon County supervisors voted unanimously in March 2026 to oppose high-voltage lines, citing risks to terrain, farms and local communities. Leaders in Vernon and Crawford counties have also discussed pooling resources for legal help ahead of Public Service Commission hearings.
Two linked projects are driving the debate. The MariBell project, from Dairyland Power Cooperative and GridLiance Heartland, would run about 140 miles from Minnesota to Crawford County, replacing existing poles with steel towers and expanding rights-of-way to as much as 250 feet, with a formal state application expected in late summer or fall 2026. The BECI project, from Midcontinent Grid Solutions, would continue from Crawford County toward Portage and Illinois, with preliminary routes across nine counties and an application expected in early 2027.
