This is not your father’s We Energies; land sale fuels state park plans

We Energies is moving forward with a proposed $250 million biomass plant in Rothschild that would burn waste from the Domtar Corp. paper mill. The plant would generate 50 megawatts of electricity as We Energies tries to move toward state-mandated goals. (Rendering courtesy of We Energies)

By James Briggs

The state Department of Natural Resources has agreed to buy 2,714 acres along the Wisconsin-Michigan border from We Energies.

If approved by the Joint Committee on Finance, as well as Gov. Jim Doyle, the DNR‘s $3.25 million purchase will result in the Menominee River State Park and Recreation Area, the first new state park in about five years.

We Energies has owned the land since the 1920s.

“I think it will be well-received, but we just have to see what they think,” said Dick Steffes, the DNR’s real estate director. “It’s a pretty fantastic stretch of scenic water.”

The land sale illustrates We Energies’ move away from low-scale energy producers, such as dams that produce hydroelectricity, in favor of biomass plants and wind farms. Biomass plants burn organic material, such as wood, to produce electricity.

We Energies must comply with a state requirement that 10 percent of utility companies’ power come from renewable resources by 2015, and We Energies won’t get there by building dams along the Menominee River.

The utility has 12 dams in northeast Wisconsin, but no plans to add more, said spokesman Brian Manthey.

“Not having what we see as a need for this in the future,” he said, “it makes sense to sell it.”

We Energies instead is moving forward with a proposed $250 million biomass plant in Rothschild that would, in part, burn waste from the Domtar Corp. paper mill, which is on the same property. The plant would generate 50 megawatts of electricity, whereas dams produce five or fewer megawatts.

Rothschild residents at first were leery of being neighbors to a biomass plant, but have since shed their concerns, said Village Manager Neal Torney.

“I haven’t received an e-mail or phone call from anyone in opposition to it in two months,” he said. “I used to be getting e-mails a couple times a day.”

A hearing on the biomass plant proposal is scheduled for late November at the state Public Service Commission.

“Right now, we’re in the process of building Glacier Hills (Wind Park), and if we have approval for this biomass project, those will be large steps toward meeting the mandate,” Manthey said. “But we still have to add future renewable electricity to our portfolio.”

While new hydroelectricity projects have become too small-scale for We Energies, RENEW Wisconsin Executive Director Michael Vickerman said he wants others to continue to tap what remains a viable renewable resource. RENEW Wisconsin is a nonprofit organization that promotes clean energy.

“Hydro power should make a contribution going forward,” Vickerman said. “We recognize that utilities aren’t going to be the actors to make it happen. It will be third-party, nonutility generators that will develop additional sites.”

That electricity could still make its way to utilities such as We Energies, Vickerman said.

“I think it’s easier for them to meet that (energy) standard by building wind projects and wood firepower plans,” he said, “but someone else could come along and find a way to repower older dams that have fallen into disrepair and try to sell that power to We Energies.

“We Energies could use that electricity toward meeting its renewable energy requirements.”

The utility remains open to all options, Manthey said.

“We need to either develop more projects,” he said, “or enter into more purchase agreements to reach the renewable standard.”

The offshoot of We Energies’ clean power strategy is Wisconsin gains perhaps the largest new park it could possibly acquire — that is, without declaring war on Michigan.

“Unless we can reclaim the Upper Peninsula,” Steffes said, “there’s not much more we can do.”