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Alliant Plans New Power Plant

Posted on: Tuesday, 18 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Ben Fischer, The Wisconsin State Journal

Apr. 18--Alliant Energy announced plans Monday to build a massive new coal-burning power unit next to the Mississippi River, on the site of an existing power plant near Cassville.

If approved by regulators, the 300-megawatt addition would provide enough power to light nearly 300,000 homes and substantially improve the state's ability to import power from other states, the company said.

The proposal is part of a planned statewide upgrade to the electricity-generation ability of Wisconsin Power & Light, Alliant's local subsidiary.

Also Monday, WPL unveiled its intention to buy and build a farm of about 40 wind turbines near Fond du Lac.

The company said the upgrades in generation ability are necessary to meet customer demand, which various estimates say will grow by about 3 percent annually for the foreseeable future in the utility's Wisconsin service territory.

"The plan we've developed to meet this growing demand is balanced and will keep our rates competitive," president Barb Swan said in a statement.

Alliant would not provide an estimated price tag for either of the projects. Spokesman Scott Smith said financial details will be available when the company files with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission later this year.

The coal plant idea -- which would more than double current size of the Nelson Dewey Generating Station -- drew a quick rebuke from environmental groups and consumer watchdogs, who said it will rely on out-of-date pollution control technology.

Also, the plant will be costly to upgrade if stricter anti- pollution regulations are enacted, said Sierra Club lawyer Bruce Nilles.

"It's probably going to happen after 2008, and whether it's President (John) McCain or President Hillary Clinton, they're going to do what scientists say we should do, which is seriously limit global warming," Nilles said. "And that's going to make old coal-burning power plants white elephants."

In addition to more modern coal-burning methods, Alliant will install scrubbers on the two existing 100-megawatt coal burners, Smith said.

"Even when we add 150 percent more nameplate capacity to the site, we're going to be able to reduce emissions by 90 percent," Smith said.

The Cassville project would rely on a technology called a "circulating fluidized bed," where the fuel is suspended in air by upward-blowing jets while it burns. That creates a tumbling action, which allows for more efficient -- and cleaner -- generation than traditional plants.

The technology can use a wide variety of potential fuels, which means Alliant could, in theory, burn renewable resources like agricultural waste or switchgrass to lessen pollution. However, Smith said that was still being studied.

Alliant said Monday it is considering buying the rights to develop the Cedar Ridge Wind Farm site near Fond du Lac, currently owned by Midwest Wind Energy. That project, unlike the coal plant, was widely praised by the Sierra Club, Clean Wisconsin and the Citizens Utility Board on Monday.

That site would be up and running by the end of 2007, and have the ability to generate between 80 and 99 megawatts of electricity.

The southwestern part of Wisconsin is an area plagued by constraints on its high- voltage transmission system, and Smith said that would be partially alleviated by building a new plant.

Once a plant is operating, consumers who today get most of their needed electricity via constricted long-distance power lines would have a higher percentage of need met by local infrastructure, freeing up capacity on the interstate lines. However, the impact will not be enough to alter current plans to build $3.4 billion worth of new power lines in the state, said Annemarie Newman, spokeswoman for the American Transmission Co.

If the PSC approves the project near Cassville, Alliant hopes to begin the four- to five-year construction project in late 2007. The project would employ up to 400 workers during construction and 40 permanent workers.

Ron Brisbois, executive director of the Grant County Economic Development Corp., praised the job-creation potential of both the construction and the long-term benefit of a more reliable electrical grid.

"We're used to dealing with expansions that may add 30 to 50 new jobs, and that's a big deal when we see projects like that," said Brisbois. "But to have something like this is enormous."

When the utility company files with the commission, it will include alternate plans for a coal plant expansion at its existing power plant site near Portage in Columbia County.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Wisconsin State Journal

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Source: The Wisconsin State Journal

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