The Port Washington Generating Station consists of two, 545-megawatt high-efficiency natural gas-fueled units. The first unit achieved commercial operation in July 2005 and the second unit was placed into service in May 2008.

At a cost of approximately $669 million, the Port Washington facility will operate as an intermediate plant – meaning that it will be called upon to produce electricity at the higher demand times of the day and the higher demand seasons of the year. The Port Washington units have the capacity to power approximately 400,000 homes.  

Construction of the Port Washington units, which are located north of Milwaukee along Lake Michigan, began in July 2003. The project was built largely with the talents of Wisconsin companies and craft labor. Collectively, more than 3.75 million labor hours were devoted to completing the project on time for Wisconsin’s summer peak season.

The Washington Division of URS Corporation, formerly Washington Group International, managed the design and engineering for the plant and served as general contractor for construction of the facility. The new units were constructed on the site of the former coal-fueled Port Washington Power Plant, which generated power for 70 years.

In 2005, the first unit at Port Washington was recognized by Power Engineering magazine as the “Best Gas-fired Project of the Year.” Power Engineering noted that the plant “employs some of the latest, most efficient technologies available and is considered a ‘good neighbor’ to the nearby community. The new plant retains the distinctive character of the older plant, which was designated as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1980.”