PR is a delicate position at transmission utility

Mark Williamson holds Dane County's most challenging marketing job.

Other marketing professionals target people who are predisposed to buy their offerings. Think organic food or a vital business service. Williamson, on the other hand, must persuade people to do something akin to liking cod liver oil for lunch. Not only is it an uphill struggle, but Williamson also needs a "yes" quickly.

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Williamson is Vice President for Major Projects at ATC, the first multistate, transmission-only utility in the U.S. ATC is building an electrical power transmission highway connecting its owners: utilities in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, including MG&E and Alliant Energy. Dane County's inability to curtail growth in energy demand necessitates new transmission lines within its borders.

Williamson is ATC's front man - finding landowners and communities who will accept huge towers and thick lines in their backyards. His job gets at the essence of marketing - creating an exchange between the customer and the seller that's a better value for each side than their alternatives. Williamson must offer enough benefits to persuade landowners to place transmission lines on their land and to curtail challenges from community groups.

What benefits would sway landowners? What solutions are least disruptive to the environment?

ATC could resort to legal means to get its lines built. But this approach often takes more time, and time is money for ATC's owners and, ultimately, ratepayers who pay for the lines. Williamson estimates ATC incurs $1 million in added costs for each one-month delay in completing its highway. The cost of delays gives ATC and Dane County an incentive to find an alternative to courts.

ATC offers money and community investments in ex-change for the right to place its transmission lines. As part of its exchange, ATC has run routes underground; provided world-class environmental protection methods during construction; and paid market rates for entire properties, not just the easement track. ATC also purchased and preserved undeveloped land as a heritage trust and improved watersheds as part of its exchange.

What is the tipping point? If Williamson offers too much, costs are higher than they need be. If he offers too little and a contentious lawsuit results, everyone loses. And, if landowners and communities wait too long to get to "yes," ATC may find legal condemnation the cost-effective solution.

The sweet spot is a win-win solution - the essence of marketing success - for all the stakeholders, given the fact that transmission lines are now needed. Landowners must feel adequately compensated. Residents and businesses must feel they are not harmed. And costs must not become so high they impose hardship on ratepayers.

Two factors further challenge Williamson's task. First, because creating a zigzag transmission line is prohibitively expensive, Williamson must secure adjacent properties along a fairly straight line from one side of Dane County to the other. Second, one obvious path, along the Beltline, would bring ATC's lines in proximity to the UW Arboretum, an invaluable natural site for Dane County and beyond. An obvious potential route would create a terrible exchange and lengthy battle.

Non-utility businesses carry a constraint that regulated businesses like ATC escape - if potential customers don't like the proposed offering, they won't cover the company's costs. Therefore, it is all the more important for marketing talent to unearth the best exchange for their company and potential customers alike. The alternative is lights out.