Dive Brief:
- We Energies has asked regulators to delay new power plants being proposed by other utilities, arguing it can sell its own excess power to help the state meet demand through 2024.
- Alliant Energy subsidiary Wisconsin Power & Light has filed with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin plans to build a $750 million hybrid natural gas-solar power station, but We Energies says it will not be necessary for almost a decade.
- The Journal Sentinel reports Alliant is opposed to that idea, however, and argues We Energies should have made its proposal more than a year ago when Alliant asked for power supply proposals.
Dive Insight:
We Energies has more than enough power and wants to sell it to other utilities in Wisconsin -- a proposal Wisconsin Power & Light said would have been better raised more than a year ago, before it submitted a proposal to construct a new 650-MW gas plant, with an additional 2 MW of solar capacity.
But the Journal Sentinel reports We Energies didn't know about its oversupply when Alliant asked for bids, because it was focused on the acquisition of Integrys Energy Group. As part of that merger, Integrys subsidiary Wisconsin Public Service withdrew its own plans for a gas-fired power plant proposed for Wrightstown.
The merger, first proposed last summer, combined We Energies and Integrys into an entity serving more than 4.3 million gas and electric customers across four states.
It appears ratepayer advocates are cautiously on board with We Energies' proposal. The Public Service Commission should "examine all realistic and cost effective alternatives," the Citizens Utility Board and Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group told regulators jointly.
CUB has previously warned that the state has excess capacity, and that regulators need to carefully review both Alliant's proposal, as well as the now-delayed WPS facility, in light of the more than $1 billion they would cost together.