Several North Side community organizations are protesting a $1.2 billion natural gas power plant proposed by We Energies.
Protesters included several members of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and North Side Rising.
Melody McCurtis, deputy director and lead organizer at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, said the proposed plant threatens residents’ health and could contribute to increased utility costs.
“It’s harmful to the environment and to us,” McCurtis said. “It will impact everybody.”
The new power plant was proposed to replace parts of We Energies’ existing coal plants at the Oak Creek facility, according to Brendan Conway, spokesperson for the utility.
Conway said that of the two coal plants at Oak Creek, one will be shut down and another will be converted to run on natural gas.
The proposed plant will replace the electricity) generation that is being lost from the retired coal plant, Conway said.
Why is this happening now?
Conway said incoming industrial facilities such as a planned Microsoft data facility in Mount Pleasant are a large reason for the new plant.
“It’s truly there to meet customer needs,” Conway said. “We’re seeing the proposed data center in Mount Pleasant, but we’re also seeing other significant growth in this part of the state.”
But residents say that data centers do not justify the potential dangers of air pollution.
“They tell us we need these gas plants for the Microsoft data center, but they never tell us that the data center needs the same amount of power needed to power 300,000 homes,” said Marco Marquez, a state director for Wisconsin Conservation Voices, a group that works on environmental issues.
Marquez said that much of the pollution created by the natural gas plant would not even directly power customers’ homes. “That smells a little funny to me,” Marquez said.
Is renewable energy an option?
According to Conway, We Energies is hoping to power a majority of its electricity through clean air energy sources by 2030.
However, only 9% of power in Wisconsin comes from renewable sources today, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“We know that the sun doesn’t always shine,” Conway said. “The wind doesn’t always blow.”
Even so, Wisconsin trails other states in the Midwest when it comes to renewable energies.
Neighboring Iowa produces 62% of its energy through renewable sources. Renewables also account for 32.5% of energy produced in Minnesota; 16.6% of energy in Illinois; 13% in Michigan; and 14.4% in Indiana, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Residents hope that money used toward a new natural gas plant could fund renewable energy instead, McCurtis said.
“Our children deserve to be left with communities where they can breathe when they can play, and where they can walk without getting asthma,” McCurtis said. “To these folks who are working at We Energies – work with us to push for renewable energy.”
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