Milwaukee Alderman against We Energies small hike to pay for Foxconn power

MILWAUKEE (CBS58) -- Alderman Robert Bauman plans to explore the legal option the city may have to object to an added cost to We Energies bills for Milwaukee residents. The hearing is at 9 a.m. at City Hall. 

It will cost $140 million to build a substation and new utility lines to power Foxconn's factory in Mount Pleasant, Racine County. The American Transmission Company is proposing the funding and according to ATC it will cost pennies a year to each customer. 

Bauman said Milwaukee residents shouldn't help fund a project that benefits a privately-owned foreign corporation. 

"Why should rate payers in the central city of Milwaukee, who can't get to Foxconn because there's no public transit, have to pay through their utility bill for the construction of this substation? What's sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander."

The $140 million will be spread out to all We Energy customers throughout the state, which is estimated at 5 million people. 

Taiwan-based Foxconn is best known as the electronics manufacturer that build flat screens displays. 

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