Wisc. Public Service applies to add coal-burning unit to power plant

Daily Reporter (Milwaukee), Sep 30, 2003 by Sean Ryan

After a year of preparation, Wisconsin Public Service Corp. Friday formally applied to add a $750 million baseload coal-burning unit to its Weston power plant in Rothschild.

We're very pleased with the public input that we received, and our goal throughout this entire process has been to keep the communities involved, said Greg Egtvedt, WPS licensing manager for the Weston application.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin and the Department of Natural Resources both have WPS applications for permits the utility would need to build the proposed fourth Weston unit. The company is planning a four-year construction period ending in 2008, and estimates that between 750 and 1,250 construction workers would be needed to build it.

The proposed 500-megawatt unit would join the Weston plant's existing three coal units, worth 494 megawatts, and two natural gas units, worth 72 megawatts. The Weston plant is now functioning as an intermediate load plant, but the 500-megawatt addition would convert it to baseload, meaning it would operate daily to meet energy demand instead of operating only during higher demand periods.

The Weston application marks the fourth Wisconsin baseload power plant proposed since the late 1970s, joining We Energies' proposed $4.3 billion coal-burning plant in Oak Creek and Calpine Corp.'s competing proposal to expand its gas-burning Fond du Lac and Fox energy centers.

This would be the first baseload power plant that WPS has built since 1981, Egtvedt said. Our electrical need has obviously increased since 1981 significantly. Our existing generation equipment, even our peaking units, are being run extensively.

Local approval expected

Egtvedt said the numerous public hearings that WPS has held, its Advisory Panel of local representatives and its collaborations with local governments have ensured a high level of local approval for the project. He said the utility wasn't anticipating anything resembling the public protests that We Energies has received for proposing a coal plant in Oak Creek.

We designed this facility to reduce the potential impacts, Egtvedt said. One of the reasons we went to the public so early in the project was to identify issues for local residents.

Starting Friday, the PSC had 30 days to rule if the application was complete, which could be followed by a month of back and forth with WPS until the commission rules it has enough information to begin considering the case. After the PSC finds the application complete, it has 180 days, with the option to extend it another 180 days, to hold prehearing conferences among interested parties, work with the DNR to draft and finalize an environmental impact statement, hold technical and public hearings, and finally rule.

However, the utility plans to solicit proposals before the end of the year for certain construction contracts, including air-pollution controls, boilers and steam turbines, Egtvedt said. The utility has petitioned the PSC to allow it to use ratepayer fees to cover the preconstruction and contractor certification costs, totaling about $72.5 million, if the new unit is not approved. He said the utility must proceed with awarding major contracts before it can get a certificate of public convenience and necessity.

PLA being drafted

He said WPS is in discussions with local construction unions to draft a project-labor agreement for the project.

The utility sent out applications for DNR permits in early September, so the agency should be able to stay neck and neck with the PSC during the review period, said DNR Project Manager Stephen Ugoretz. The regulatory DNR-PSC review streamlining the Doyle administration unveiled this month wouldn't do much to shorten the permitting, which would move along at a brisk clip either way, said Ugoretz, who's managed about a dozen energy generation permits for the DNR.

From my perspective, it really isn't going to change a whole lot, he said. The working relationships have been developing down over a decade now ... I'd call it more of a refinement. Streamlining is kind of a cliche word, but I'd say it was a streamlining process.