WI's Public Service Commission is reviewing clean coal technology

Daily Reporter (Milwaukee), Aug 23, 2005 by Paul Snyder

The future may have come a little quicker than the Public Service Commission expected.

Following Gov. Jim Doyle's announcement of his Conserve Wisconsin initiative last week, in which he called on the Department of Natural Resources and PSC to explore the possibility of implementing integrated gasification combined cycle coal technology, the state must now take another look at the technology it dismissed two years ago.

In 2003, the PSC rejected a We Energies plan to build an IGCC plant at Oak Creek, citing that it was neither cost effective or a proven means of generating energy. A PSC member at the time said that We Energies could someday return with a more refined plan but that could be much further down the road.

But a brief public meeting on Monday saw the PSC entertaining talk of next generation clean coal technology from board members who said they were eager to work with the DNR and the governor in researching IGCC for the state's energy needs.

It wasn't a surprise that the governor announced this now, said Mark Meyer, commissioner of the PSC. Technology is changing very rapidly, and we need to be able to look at this with all the other options that will come our way.

The PSC issued a statement Monday maintaining that it still needs to see if the technology is proven and can be built at a reasonable cost before deciding if it's right for Wisconsin.

Less polluting process

IGCC converts coal into gas, which is then burned to produce electricity. The process eliminates thousands of tons of toxic pollutants from a power plant's air and water emissions. There are only four operational coal-based IGCC plants in the world (in Florida, Indiana, Spain and the Netherlands).

Meyer said there are still a number of factors that need to be considered regarding IGCC.

Obviously, the upfront costs are much higher, he said. On top of that, there's still so much to look into and study with this. I'm looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting into it, but honestly, there are so many variables that I don't know if I'd be able to answer a lot of specific questions after a few months of studying this.

In a statement released Friday, Katie Nekola, energy program director for Clean Wisconsin, applauded the move to focus on the technology.

Gov. Doyle's initiative to study IGCC is extremely timely, she said. The results of this study will be invaluable as new coal plants are proposed in the very near future. We need to make fully informed decisions about power plants that will affect our air and water for more than 50 years after they are built.

Clean Wisconsin and the Sierra Club are still engaged in a battle with We Energies over the construction of a coal-fired plant in Oak Creek, which Doyle approved. S.C. Johnson also supported the protest for a long time before bowing out last week and saying that Doyle needed to reform the state's antiquated energy-permitting process.

Meyer said he did not believe Doyle's environmental agenda was timed with 2006 elections on the horizon.

I don't see it as politically motivated, Meyer said. I see this as an honest attempt on the part of Gov. Doyle, the PSC and the DNR to see if this technology is right for us.

He said it's important for the public to provide feedback on the IGCC studies.

We can anticipate that this is going to attract the interest of political and environmental groups, Meyer said. But I'd really like to see the larger public get involved and have their say. All of our meetings on this are going to be open to the public, and we hope to have a Web site up on the matter soon.

The PSC and DNR expect to present a report on their findings to Doyle next spring.