MILWAUKEE – Power Wisconsin Forward, a statewide coalition of lean energy and environmental organizations, strongly condemned the Wisconsin Public Service Commissioners’ decision to approve We Energies’ proposals for new methane gas infrastructure in southeastern Wisconsin calling the decision a major step backward for the state’s clean energy future and to community’s health and wellbeing.
By a vote of 3-0, the PSC approved We Energies’ plans to build $2 billion of gas infrastructure, including:
- Construction of a new methane gas plant at the Oak Creek Power Plant campus; and
- Installation of seven methane gas Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) near the Paris Solar Farm in Kenosha County.
“This decision puts corporate profits above protecting the health of Wisconsin families, our environment, and our economy,” said Abby Novinska-Lois, Executive Director at Healthy Climate Wisconsin. “The PSC’s approval locks our state into decades of polluting fossil fuels at a time when we have cleaner, more affordable energy solutions available. These gas plants will make people sick, while increasing utility bills.”
“The PSC’s decision to approve these methane gas plants represents an outdated solution to speculative energy demand,” said Jodi Jean Amble, Deputy Director at RENEW Wisconsin. “Electrification and the rapid growth of data centers are shifting energy demand, but we don’t yet have a clear picture of what that demand will be. We can’t afford to undermine our clean energy goals by investing in fossil fuel infrastructure that will lock in decades of emissions.”
Power Wisconsin Forward maintains that the PSC’s approval overlooks critical issues in We Energies’ fillings, including:
- The lack of a clear timeline for future energy needs from a high-demand user.
- Sufficient justification for the proposed scale and duration of the energy that would need to be generated.
“This approval – by all three Commissioners – is especially concerning, as the utility failed to provide critical information about the expected timeline for increased energy demand from high-energy users, the specific amount of energy required, or the duration of that demand,” said Maria Chavez, Energy Analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Rather than demand accountability and clarity from a utility that presented a ‘business as usual’ proposal, the PSC greenlit projects with significant financial and environmental risks, even though data and expert testimony clearly signaled flaws with this approach.“
The PSC’s decision ignores and undercuts strong community opposition and compelling testimony from residents across the state – including Wisconsin businesses, local governments, environmental groups, faith leaders and community members. This consists of more than 600 individually written comments and personal testimonies on the Oak Creek Gas plant, with 94% of the responses being opposed to the project, and more than 500 written comments and testimonies for the Paris project, 95% of which were opposed.
“The Wisconsin Public Service Commission’s approval of two new methane gas plants is an outright betrayal of public trust,” said Bryan Rogers, Director at the Environmental Justice and Infrastructure Initiative. “The communities most impacted by energy burden, toxic emissions, and rising utility costs will remain locked into a polluted future they did not choose and cannot afford – a message we have delivered to the PSC loudly, clearly, consistently and legally. We resoundingly reject a future where so-called energy planning becomes a euphemism for fossil fuel expansion while frontline communities struggling for energy justice are sidelined..”
“While PSC Commissioner Strand noted ‘collaboration, community engagement and compromise’ as something she was looking for in the record, what the utility presented was capitulating, condescending and controlling,” said Cassie Steiner, Senior Campaign Coordinator, Sierra Club – Wisconsin Chapter. “The grassroots and intervenor presence in this record can’t be overstated, and sufficient weight wasn’t given to the feedback from the communities, physicians, businesses and legal parties who pointed out faults in what was presented.”
Power Wisconsin Forward and its partners will continue to serve as a watchdog for utilities to ensure they align with the state’s clean energy goals and the interests of Wisconsin’s communities.
