PSC approves natural gas facilities in Milwaukee and Kenosha counties

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A pair of We Energies natural gas projects in Milwaukee and Kenosha counties were approved by state regulators.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin on Thursday unanimously approved plans for a 1,100-megawatt natural gas plant in Oak Creek and a 128-megawatt natural gas plant in Paris. The utility has cited large data centers and manufacturers underway in southeast Wisconsin as demand for roughly $2 billion in gas-generated electricity.

The projects have generated controversy for environmental groups who want renewable projects. However, construction unions view them favorably for jobs they’re expected to create.

“Everything got approved, so (the project) is a go,” said Dan Bukiewicz, mayor of the city of Oak Creek and president of the Milwaukee Building & Construction Trades Council. Labor has been pre-planning their jobs to provide the manpower needed as contractors move in, he added.

We Energies has a construction manager selected, but the whole project will be split into smaller contracts with different general contractors stepping in multiple phases, Bukiewicz said.

The building trades expects between 4,000 and 5,000 people to work on the projects as they ebb and flow over the course of five years, Bukiewicz noted.

The Oak Creek project, which will convert the plant from coal to natural gas, is separate from a new liquified natural gas facility on a former coal lot nearby. The PSC has not yet voted on the LNG facility.

The Paris project includes the construction of seven reciprocating internal combustion engines, known as RICE, which can be started and stopped quickly.

We Energies argued that both plants will fill the gaps for recently installed renewables such as solar and wind projects.

The commission’s decision was “an important next step in our efforts to meet growing electrical demand across southeast Wisconsin,” said Mike Hooper, president of We Energies. “We are making the grid cleaner and greener while ensuring the lights stay on – no matter the weather – because we know that’s what matters most to our customers,” he added.

A coalition of environmental and health groups opposed to the new natural gas plant projects criticized the PSC’s decision and said the commission overlooked issues in We Energies’ filings for a clear timeline for future energy needs and justification for how much energy and for how long the projects will create.

Officials from Power Wisconsin Forward, a coalition of clean energy and environmental advocates, said the decision was made as most written comments and responses were against the Oak Creek and Paris projects.

“Though we had hoped for a different response from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin today, we knew this outcome was a possibility,” said Jodi Jean Amble, the deputy director of RENEW Wisconsin. “This may feel like a setback for many of us in clean energy and environmental advocacy circles, but the work continues. We believe projects like Microsoft’s data center can and must be powered by clean energy going forward. The technology exists for us to create a future run on clean, reliable and affordable energy,” she added.

Early estimates showed that the Oak Creek conversion project will cost around $1.2 billion. The liquified natural gas project, which involves creating energy storage for the Oak Creek plant after conversion, will cost around $456.3 million. It will cost $300 million to build the RICE generator project in Paris.

Construction will begin this year, and the plants will be brought online in the coming years, We Energies officials said.