Wisconsin Public Service Corp. to refurbish turbine

Daily Reporter (Milwaukee), Jan 12, 2007 by Joe Grundle

Wisconsin Public Service Corp. began a six-month project Monday to refurbish a turbine in its De Pere Energy Center.

WPSC, a subsidiary of WPS Resources Corp., is undergoing the maintenance based on the turbine manufacturer's recommendation that turbine components get refurbished after 900 startups -- a milestone reached earlier this year by the DEC.

To allow disassembly of the turbine, the roof of the DEC, a 180- megawatt natural gas-fired electric peaking station, will have to be removed by a large crane.

Two shifts of about a dozen workers will disassemble the turbine and prepare the various parts for shipment to a refurbishment facility.

"The outage activities at DEC are not anticipated to be highly visible with the exception of a large crane and several temporary job trailers," DEC Supervisor Bill Bosacki said in a statement. "The planned activities are not expected to be noisy, but there will be some increased truck traffic and an increase in activity at the facility in general."

The DEC is a plant used to supplement the electric supply during times of peak energy use, typically warm and humid summer days. It was constructed in 1999 with its power leased to WPSC, which eventually bought the plant in 2003.