Study assails gas-fired plant plan
8:26 PM 9/16/03
Judy Newman Business reporter

If a proposed power plant in suburban Milwaukee is fueled with natural gas, it would raise the cost of heat and electricity for all of Wisconsin and would erode the state's already shrinking manufacturing industry, a study says.

The study, conducted for the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce association, says the average Wisconsin industrial company could be paying an additional $57,000 a year for heat and electricity by 2010, or as much as $95,000 a year more by 2020 if the plant is natural gas-fired.

The report comes as the state Public Service Commission prepares to hold public hearings in southeast Wisconsin today through Friday on plans by Wisconsin Energy Corp. of Milwaukee to build three 600-megawatt, coal-fired units in Oak Creek, near an existing power plant site.

Opponents say a coal plant will muddy the air with pollution; they want the generators to be fueled by natural gas instead.

The report, released Tuesday, says if the plant is gas-fired, it would use as much natural gas as all of the homes in the state consume in a year. As a result, it concludes, supplies would be tight, prices would be higher and more volatile, and jobs would disappear in the manufacturing and service industries.

"It's clear that natural gas over-reliance will hurt our economy," said James Buchen, Manufacturers & Commerce association vice president of government relations, in a written statement.

The report, by Management Information Services of Washington, D.C., says last winter, Wisconsin industrial customers were faced with record high natural gas prices and twice, their natural gas supplies were interrupted.

Meanwhile, former Minnesota assistant attorney general Barbara Freese is urging the PSC to turn down the coal plant application. Freese has submitted written testimony that says the coal generators would increase emissions by 18 percent and "take Wisconsin even further down precisely the wrong path."

Her testimony was released by RESET, Responsible Energy for Southeastern Wisconsin's Tomorrow. The coalition of businesses and citizen, environmental and other organizations now has nearly 50 members.

The PSC is scheduled to decide the Oak Creek power plant issue by Nov. 10.