Climate Action » Wisconsin

Environmental Group Sues Wisconsin State Agency

Suzanne Bopp — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:43:56 +0000

Last week, the Wisconsin Sierra Club sued the state’s Department of Natural Resources, saying that agency has failed to provide requested records on several state-owned coal plants. The Sierra Club is trying to ensure that the plants are in compliance with the federal Clean Air Act.

The group requested the records in October.

The plants in question are at UW La Crosse, UW Eau Claire, UW Stevens Point and UW Stout. They have all undergone modifications which may require them to install additional pollution controls.

Wisconsin Governor Doyle decided to take one plant, at UW Madison, completely off coal – shifting to biomass and natural gas – after a federal judge decided that the plant was violating the Clean Air Act. “The governor gets credit for making the right decision, but it’s been a long haul,” says Jennifer Feyerherm, director of Sierra Club’s Wisconsin Clean Energy Campaign. “The governor talks a lot about how moving to biomass will help create jobs. He should make his legacy getting all the state-owned plants off of coal.”

The state currently contracts with two companies for its coal, one of which is Massey Energy, the largest practitioner of mountaintop removal coal mining in the country.

– Suzanne Bopp

Troubles for New Wisconsin Coal-Fired Plant

Suzanne Bopp — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:37:47 +0000

Late last month, an enormous new coal plant in Wisconsin began producing electricity – enough to power a million homes.

The We Energies Oak Creek plant, a $2.3-billion facility, was approved years go, when the state’s electricity demand was much higher. Now its power is no longer needed, even according to state regulators.

The plant was originally expected to cost $2.19 billion, but weather delays and other factors resulted in a cost overrun of at least $122 million, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. (The final figures won’t be certain until next year.) Now the state’s Public Service Commission, a three-member, governor-appointed group, will consider with how much of that should be repaid by customers, who already have seen their average monthly bill rise 41% since 2005, when construction on the Oak Creek plant began.

And that’s not the end of Oak Creek’s troubles; We Energies has already settled a case having to do with its water system’s damaging impacts on surrounding lakes. “If that plant were built today, it wouldn’t be able to use the water cooling system it has,” says Jennifer Feyerherm, director of the Sierra Club’s Wisconsin Clean Energy Campaign. After filing a complaint, they have now settled with We Energies; the company will pay $5 million a year for 20 years to a non-profit organization set up to help mitigate the damage from the water cooling system, and to install 15 MGW of solar power and 15 MGW of biomass capability in the state.

“When they proposed the plant, we said it would be a bad investment, and that’s what they’re finding out,” Feyerherm says.

We Energies expects to bring the second of Oak Creek’s two boilers online later this year.

Wisconsin Residents Urge Passage of Clean Energy Jobs Act

Suzanne Bopp — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:54:02 +0000

A coalition of organizations announced that 12,000 Wisconsinites have signed a postcard to their legislators in support of the Clean Energy Jobs Act.

“We’ve knocked on thousands of doors in communities across Wisconsin and one thing is clear: the public wants clean energy and they want it now,” said Dan Kohler, Wisconsin Environment Director, in a press release. “People in Wisconsin are deeply concerned about our dependence on oil and dirty coal and they know we can do better by harnessing homegrown, clean energy sources such as wind and solar power, and by using energy more efficiently.”

A group of citizens planned to deliver the postcards to state representatives and senators before testifying at the final scheduled public hearing of the Assembly Clean Energy Jobs committee.

Event participants said they believe that developing clean energy technologies in Wisconsin can help the state innovate and compete economically, and that conservation and efficiency programs can help save consumers money. They didn’t believe that using more clean energy would cause economic harm, as some opponents claim. “I remember the exact same arguments being used when acid rain legislation was proposed years ago,” said Will Stahl, a semi-retired teacher from Neenah. “Opponents of these kinds of initiatives always try to exaggerate the potential costs. Personally, I believe we need to innovate to achieve more energy independence.”