Nuclear Plants

Abstract

Judge Cudahy, at the time sitting as Chairman of the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, wrote for the 2-1 majority in the 1974 decision summarized in this article. The decision allowed the Wisconsin Electric Power Company to invest funds and enter into contracts in anticipation of a nuclear power plant being built in the town of Koshkonong before Commission certification to build the plant was actually granted. This order allowed this preemptive action on the condition that the joint applicants continually submit substantial amounts of information including reports of their expenditures and commitments, estimates of losses in case of denial of certification, and potential cost increases if the pre-certificate spending was reduced. The intervenor, Concerned Citizens of Wisconsin, Inc., had sought a permanent restraining order alleging this activity constituted “construction” which requires certification within the meaning of Wisconsin law, and that pre-certification expenditures would adversely affect the integrity of the certification process by predisposing the Commission to approve the project.