State panel rejects proposed coal-fired power plant
The state Public Service Commission on Tuesday unanimously rejected a proposed $1.3 billion 300-megawatt mostly coal-fired power plant proposed by Wisconsin Power & Light at Cassville.
In justifying their decision, commissioners cited the cost, inefficiency and carbon dioxide emissions of the proposed plant.
Rob Crain, a spokesman for WPL and its parent company Alliant Energy, said the commission's written decision will be reviewed, but an appeal is unlikely.
"We are disappointed with the opportunities lost in the short-term, but we intend to work with the commission and look at the next steps toward meeting the needs of our customers," Crain said.
More electric power is needed, and Alliant will work to try to fulfill that need, he added.
The PSC, however, found the prior work of WPL sadly lacking, saying that the company's testimony was often contradictory and that its proposal was revised very late in the game to increase the percentage of biofuel that could be used with coal at the plant from 10 to 20 percent. Even with the higher percentage, they said that the plant would produce too much carbon dioxide.
"Based on the evidence, I find this particular project is not in the public interest," said PSC Chairman Eric Callisto. But he urged the company to come in quickly with a better thought-out plan.
"Public comment was really significant," said Commissioner Mark Meyer, praising the extent of public participation after he stated that he could not support the application because it did not meet fundamental requirements.
Commissioner Lauren Azar said the proposal would lock the state into a coal technology that may soon be obsolete, in light of the fact that federal regulation of carbon emissions is inevitable.
The commission also criticized an alternative coal plant at Portage, saying that a natural gas plant would be preferable to both sites.
More than 4,500 negative comments about the proposal were submitted electronically to the PSC, about 10 times as many as those in support, according to Clean Wisconsin. Both alternatives were also opposed by Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, based on fear that pollution would reach Dane County from either plant.
Sam Weis of Clean Wisconsin said after the commission vote that the decision was "really good for Wisconsin."
"This will help us build a clean energy economy and create jobs. We need to invest in the alternatives of renewable energy. A recent report said 37,000 jobs could come from solar, wind and biomass development," Weis said.
Jennifer Feyerherm of the Sierra Club was "pleased as can be."
"This opens the way for Wisconsin to rely on clean air and green energy options," she added.
An environmental impact statement prepared by the PSC and the Department of Natural Resources for the Cassville plant stated that emissions from either plant were likely to cause or worsen violations of ozone and fine particulate standards in Grant, Dane, Rock and Columbia counties.
Those supporting the plant included the village of Cassville, labor unions, and the biofuel industry.
"WPL and its employees have been good neighbors and community members since they joined our small community nearly 50 years ago," village officials wrote in a letter to the Public Service Commission. "The existing two units not only provide our local residents with good-paying, stable employment, but also provide our community with economic benefits."
File photo
A coal-fired power plant like this one in Oak Creek was rejected by the state Public Service Commission.
