Doyle favors larger campus power plant
0:20 AM 5/10/03
Phil Brinkman and Beth Williams Wisconsin State Journal

Gov. Jim Doyle recommended Friday that the state join with Madison Gas and Electric Co. in building a 150-megawatt power plant on the UW-Madison campus.

In a letter to members of the Legislature's budget committee, Administration Secretary Marc Marotta said the plant is the most cost-effective way to meet the university's demand for steam heat, chilled water and electricity while also enabling MGE to serve the surrounding region.

The 150-megawatt facility is best suited to serve the steep electrical demands of the university's many research and critical-care facilities and provide needed backup power, UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley said.

"When the power goes out virtually everything stops," Wiley said. "It's ridiculous to put yourself in that situation."

Neighbors of the proposed power plant, in the 600 block of Walnut Street, have pushed for a smaller, 45-megawatt facility that would be wholly owned by the state and university. Conflicting cost estimates made it unclear which plant would cost the state more in the long run.

"There isn't one main consensus except people are concerned about the health and welfare of their neighbors," said Elaine Glowacki, Regent Neighborhood Association president.

The association passed a resolution in January stating its opposition to the 150-megawatt cogeneration plant. Cogeneration plants produce electricity and steam.

The state's $90 million share of the estimated $180 million natural gas-fueled plant would be repaid through charges to those receiving utility services, including UW Hospital, Veterans Hospital and the Forest Products Laboratory, Marotta said.

Marotta's recommendation amends Doyle's 2003-05 capital budget -projects requiring long-term borrowing - which the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee is expected to take up this month.

Doyle declined to include the plant in the capital budget when it was released in March, citing disputes over the project's environmental and fiscal impacts.

At the request of state Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, the governor asked a consultant evaluating the various plant options to seek more public comment.

The consultant reported the cost difference between the smaller and larger facility at nearly $212 million over 30 years, far higher than originally projected.

But days later, after talking again with officials from MGE and the university, the consultant revised the figures, saying the difference could be as little as $69 million.

Black said Friday the revision - and the fact that the decision to build the plant in the first place was inserted in an emergency budget bill last year without public notice - have tainted the project.

"This entire process has never been a fair evaluation of what's best for the taxpayers and to meet the legitimate utility needs of the university," he said.

Some neighbors said they felt their input wasn't seriously considered by officials.

"We put hundreds of hours into this and all the evidence we've seen points to going with a much smaller plant for the UW environmentally and fiscally," said Joan Knoebel, a member of Friends of Responsible Energy who has lived in the Regent Street neighborhood for 20 years.

State, UW-Madison and MGE officials said the 150-megawatt plant would best serve the needs of the university, whose projected demands for steam heat and chilled water are expected to exceed capacity next year.

"As soon as Camp Randall is finished we'll be completely out of both," Wiley said.

For its part, MGE can use the extra power the plant generates to serve customers on Madison's West Side. MGE currently imports about 85 percent of its electricity from outside Dane County, said Jeff Newman, MGE vice president and treasurer.

MGE needs to generate about 300 megawatts more over the next 10 years, he said. This plant, which could be running by early 2005, could provide half that amount.

The state's Public Service Commission is reviewing the proposal with its final decision expected this fall.

Marotta said the proposed agreement with MGE would include other benefits: