Alliant Energy announced on Dec. 4, the Columbia Energy Center will continue coal operation through 2029 after saying its coal burning units would be removed by 2024 and later delaying the date to 2026.
In May, Alliant Energy announced that the Sheboygan Edgewater coal plant will be converted to natural gas in 2028, a delay from the plan to convert in 2025 and, prior to that, in 2022.
JP Brummond, vice president of operations at Alliant Energy in Wisconsin, told The Daily Cardinal the decision is a part of Alliant’s commitment to affordability and reliability. Alliant also said the conversion to natural gas will reduce customer costs by around $60 million until 2030.
Cindy Thompson, external communications manager at Alliant Energy, told the Cardinal “we're leveraging a current asset rather than building new, which takes years, and also billions in order to do that. So when we think about customer affordability, that's a key piece of it.”
However, Brummond noted the plant will provide more grid reliability, it will be less efficient from a market and price perspective.
“It's definitely going to be more expensive. It's gonna be slower compared to other gas units…but it will be that capacity and reliability resource that the grid needs when it needs it,” he said.
While natural gas may burn fewer emissions per unit of energy, it still emits potent greenhouse gasses. Natural gas is a large source of methane emissions, as it is released during almost every stage of the production, processing and use of natural gas, according to the EPA. Reducing methane emissions is a propitious way to slow global warming, as methane is “80 times more potent than carbon dioxide” and “four times more sensitive to global warming than previously thought.”
Brummond said that once the Edgewater plant is converted to gas, it will be a very reliable asset from a capacity perspective. He said it will be less carbon intensive since it would only run a few times a year on average.
“A unit like Edgewater on gas is sitting there waiting for that call. And when you get that call, it's able to bring 100 megawatts of generation online on gas,” he said.
While capacity is one aspect of the Edgewater plant, advocates bring up the importance of examining broader environmental and health concerns.
“Alliant thinks of themselves as a leader in climate work in the state among the utilities, but this is just them falling backwards and doing the things other utilities are doing in a really damaging way,” Jadine Sonoda, a campaign manager for the Wisconsin Chapter of the Sierra Club, told the Cardinal.
Sonoda said the decision to convert the plant to natural gas was a poor attempt to transition to more fossil fuels instead of actually transitioning to clean energy. Additionally, she noted this approach may not be as reliable as it seems, especially with the rise in extreme weather events.
“Wisconsin is the last of all midwest states when it comes to clean energy generation…I feel like they really did us all a disservice as far as not making bigger and bolder clean energy investments sooner,” Healthy Climate Wisconsin Clean Air Coordinator Dr. Brittany Keyes told the Cardinal.
Around 75% of Wisconsin’s energy is sourced from non-renewable energy sources, according to the Wisconsin Clean Energy Plan.
The type of coal burned in the plant could lead to decreases in efficiency and the plants heat rate, leading advocates to doubt the viability of the investment in the long term.
“There’s really no need for ratepayers to be paying utilities to build this infrastructure when there are clean energy alternatives available,” Sonoda said.
Previously, Sheboygan County has underperformed on several environmental and health metrics. The American Lung association’s 2024 State of The Air Report gave Sheboygan County an F for air quality. Last year, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced 13 air quality warnings where individuals with sensitivity to air pollution were advised to stay indoors.
Living in close proximity to a fossil fuel power plant can have significant effects on public health. Annually, around 52,000 premature deaths can be linked to particulate matter emissions from coal-fired plants. People living near a coal plant have worse lung function and are more likely to have a lower lung capacity when compared to individuals living only 35 km or more from a coal plant.
And when it comes to natural gas, similar findings prevail. Living near a gas plant has been associated with birth complications, asthma and psychological effects.
In response to environmental and health concerns, Brummond said Alliant is proactive about maintaining operational standards in Sheboygan.
“I know we have very strict environmental permits that we need to run under. We do a really good job meeting the requirements of those permits,” he said.
