Second Unit at Port Washington Generating Station Reaches Commercial Operation

MILWAUKEE, May 23 /PRNewswire/ — The second unit at We Energies’ Port Washington Generating Station was placed into commercial service today after final testing and commissioning activities were successfully completed.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080523/AQF042)

The Port Washington Station consists of two 545-megawatt natural gas-fueled units. The first unit achieved commercial operation in July 2005.

“This is a major part of our investment in upgrading the energy infrastructure of the region,” said Rick Kuester, executive vice president of Wisconsin Energy Corporation, the parent of We Energies. “The Port Washington units are a cornerstone of our effort to provide the energy our customers need now and in the decades ahead.”

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.”

We Energies serves more than 1.1 million electric customers in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and more than 1 million natural gas customers in Wisconsin. Its electricity prices are approximately seven percent below the national average. We Energies is the trade name of Wisconsin Electric Power Company and Wisconsin Gas LLC, the principal utility subsidiaries of Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE:WEC) . Visit the We Energies Web site at http://www.we-energies.com/. Learn more about Wisconsin Energy Corporation by visiting http://www.wisconsinenergy.com/.

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Source: We Energies

CONTACT: Media Line of We Energies, +1-414-221-4444

Web site: http://www.we-energies.com/