Scar or solution? Driftless area worries about high-voltage power line

GENOA - Many people in Wisconsin`s Driftless region abide by a shared ethos: love for their small communities, respect for the land and a desire to live away from disruption.

In their eyes, a high-voltage power line proposed to cut through the area could put all that in jeopardy.

The MariBell Transmission Project, developed by La Crosse-based Dairyland Power Cooperative and the transmission utility company GridLiance, would stretch about 140 miles from Marion, Minnesota, to Bell Center, Wisconsin. It would be the state`s first 765-kilovolt line, which supporters call the backbone of any electrical grid because of the amount of power it can carry. The project has a $900 million price tag...