Oak Creek We Energies natural gas plant plan sees pushback
Proposed natural gas power plants
There's debate over the future of generating power in southeast Wisconsin.
OAK CREEK, Wis. - A plan to build new natural gas plants in Oak Creek is getting some pushback.
Natural gas plant
What we know:
We Energies is proposing a new megawatt natural gas plant for its Oak Creek facility that would cost a little more than $1 billion. The plan is to have it up and running around 2028.
The company wants to shift out its current coal plants by the end of 2032.
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We Energies plans to invest in both natural gas and renewable energy projects, with $9.1 billion in new renewable energy by 2029.
But some aren’t exactly lighting up.
Pushback
What they're saying:
Healthy Climate Wisconsin board member Victoria Gillet said solar and wind would be more reliable power sources if they had more investment.
"I am not excited about the proposal," said Healthy Climate Wisconsin board member Victoria Gillet. "Gas is the second worst after coal. We deserve a good outcome, not something that's slightly better than the horrible coal that’s been ruining our community for so long."
Gillet said the move is a high price for a small payout.
"I would be happy to be maybe paying high prices for something that I felt like was really benefiting my community," she said.
"Our primary job is reliability"
The other side:
Meanwhile, We Energies Executive Vice President Dan Krueger said natural gas is a great way to fill the void for power when renewables are not enough.
"Our primary job is reliability," Krueger said. "They will step in when there’s not enough power from the solar and the wind and they’ll come right back off when the wind blows or the sun shines."
We Energies said the majority of power would still come from wind and solar and the new plants would only run 10–20% of the time.
Krueger also said gas plants are cheaper and emit less CO2 than coal.
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"The way to make the renewables most effective is to have quick start natural gas plants to fill the gap," Krueger said.
Change in your bills?
Dig deeper:
FOX6 News asked We Energies how this would affect your electric bills, but a spokesperson said he could not give a dollar for dollar amount. But he did say natural gas would be cheaper than the costs associated with the current coal plants.
The Source: We Energies andHealthy Climate Wisconsin contributed to this report.