We Energies Power the Future General Q&A

Power the Future Basic Facts

What are some of the long-term plans for some of the other plants (Valley, Milwaukee County)?
For now our primary goal is completing work at Port Washington and Oak Creek. The other power plants in our fleet remain necessary to meet the current and growing customer need. We are making investments to improve the efficiency and environmental performance of these existing plants.
Why is Port Washington going to natural gas and not coal?
Port Washington is an intermediate power plant. Intermediate power is generated, as needed, usually during daytime hours Monday through Friday when demand is highest and cannot be met by our baseload units. Because intermediate plants cycle off and on, natural gas is a better fuel for this type of operation. The coal-fueled Port Washington units being retired were built in the 1930s and the site is too small to support a large baseload coal plant.
Why was Oak Creek chosen for the coal portion?
Oak Creek is a baseload power plant, which means it is a workhorse facility in our system required to run 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Coal is the best choice to fuel baseload power plants because the price is stable (only increased four percent over the last 20 years) and supplies are plentiful. Natural gas prices, on the other hand, tend to be more volatile, making it a poor choice for a baseload plant. In addition, the new coal combustion technology and environmental control technology make the use of coal a sound choice environmentally and economically.
The key reasons Oak Creek was selected for expansion with new coal-fueled units include:
- The development of new electrical generating units at this location avoids use of a "greenfield", by expanding at a brownfield site already used for generation. An existing plant site also has much of the needed infrastructure to support additional generation capacity.
- The site is large enough and capable of supporting the addition of 1,200 megawatts of capacity.
- The topography of the Oak Creek site, with its 100 foot-high bluff, provides a natural barrier to the community from plant operations. This mitigates noise and reduces the physical profile of the plant.
- Existing road-, rail-, and lake-related transportation infrastructure exists.
- Significant existing electrical transmission infrastructure is already in place.

What will Power the Future mean to me as a customer?
Power the Future means reliable and affordable electricity produced with the most advanced emission control technology.

The generation-building portion of the plan will answer the growing demand for additional electricity supply. Distribution system upgrades will improve overall reliability. A diverse mix of fuel sources will help maintain stable prices. The use of the latest coal technologies on new units, improvements to the efficiency and environmental performance of existing facilities, and an increased commitment to renewable resources means that public health is protected, while emissions are significantly reduced.
What is being done to further develop renewable resources above state legal standards?

We Energies has a long-standing and ongoing commitment to develop innovative renewable energy resources.
We’re expanding our use of wind, solar, and biomass energy resources.
We have targeted 5 percent of the retail electricity used by our customers to be generated from renewable energy sources by 2011. This significantly exceeds what state law requires.
The Blue Sky Green Field Wind Project is being constructed to generate 145 megawatts of electricity in the town of Calumet and Marshfield, located in northeast Fond du Lac county.
We are evaluating bids for other renewable energy sources.
We have one of the most successful green pricing programs in the U.S., which offers customers the opportunity to purchase energy from renewable sources.
We have enlisted the help of environmental and renewable energy advocacy groups and established a Renewable Collaborative in order to increase our use of renewable energy sources.

What about conservation in this plan? Are conservation measures enough to meet the growing demand?
As part of the Power the Future plan, We Energies will be capturing an additional 55MW of conservation by 2008.

We Energies has also formed a partnership with Focus On Energy to specifically develop programs and products that increase energy efficiency. In addition, We Energies has organized a Building Code Collaborative, which includes consumer groups, building associations and architects, to name a few, to integrate conservation and energy efficient applications into new home construction.

Conservation remains very important to meeting future energy needs; however, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin determined that conservation alone cannot meet the state's growing energy needs.