— A new effort to rekindle a former nuclear power site in northeastern Wisconsin comes amid growing bipartisan interest around nuclear energy in the state.
One of Wisconsin’s major utilities, WEC Energy Group, is working on the project with Utah-based EnergySolutions. The companies earlier this year announced plans to explore options for new nuclear generation at Kewaunee Power Station on Wisconsin’s northeastern coast. The power station has been offline since the plant was decommissioned in 2013, leaving just one nuclear plant in nearby Two Rivers.
Nuclear power currently makes up about 15% of the state’s energy mix, but advocates are pressing for more.
The Kewaunee announcement follows Democratic Gov. Tony Evers last year signing into law two bills aimed at advancing nuclear energy in the state: one authorizes a nuclear power siting study; and the other creates a Nuclear Power Summit Board. At the same time, other legislation has been proposed to boost various forms of nuclear energy in the state, garnering support from both Republicans and Democrats.
Professor Paul Wilson, who chairs the University of Wisconsin-Madison‘s Department of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics, says “there’s lots of things to recommend” nuclear as an energy source, from the energy density of its fuel to its ability to provide power regardless of the weather – unlike wind and solar.
“If your priority is for a clean, low-emission energy system, there’s a growing recognition across the political spectrum that nuclear energy is a key player in that,” Wilson told WisBusiness.com in a recent interview.
State Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, says nuclear energy is “a place where we’re finding common ground” in the state Legislature, noting she’s worked with multiple Republican lawmakers on this topic.
“For a long time, there was a lot of fear around nuclear energy, and I think that we’re getting to the point where we’re getting over that fear,” she said in an interview, adding, “nuclear energy provides an opportunity to bring the two parties together.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Shae Sortwell, R-Two Rivers, pointed to a “growing consensus” across the political spectrum that nuclear power needs to play a key role in Wisconsin’s future energy landscape. Energy demand is expected to rise in the years to come due to a growing number of “hyperscale” data centers being built across the state.
Sortwell noted coal is generally a more popular energy source with Republicans in the state, while Democrats are more supportive of wind and solar. Even natural gas comes with environmental baggage due to concerns over fracking. He argued “nuclear power is really your only choice that everyone is okay with.”
Coal and natural gas made up 72% of the state’s electricity generation in 2024, the latest year covered in the U.S. Energy Information’s overview for the state. Another 12% came from renewable resources.
Subeck also stressed the importance of ramping up energy production to meet rising energy needs from data centers and other drivers of demand while balancing that with sustainability concerns.
“Nuclear is a way to grow that addresses the environmental concerns that Democrats have and also meet those growth needs the Republicans are really focused on,” she said.
Added Wilson: “If you built a new nuclear power plant, then we would be getting more of our share of our electricity from nuclear. …There’s no reason that you would not use nuclear if you had it available.”
Revived interest follows decades of decline
The share of the state’s energy generation coming from nuclear has fallen over the years as multiple plants have been shut down. It used to be as high as 20% when the former Kewaunee site was still operating, according to Wilson.
The state at one point had four reactors across three sites before a small nuclear facility near La Crosse in western Wisconsin was taken offline in the early 1980s.
Wisconsin’s sole remaining nuclear site, the Point Beach power plant in Two Rivers, has two operating reactors that are among the oldest in the country, having started operating in the early 1970s. For the past 13 years or so, that facility has made up about 15% of the state’s annual net electricity generation as the only nuclear portion of the state’s energy mix.
The former Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant, which began producing energy in the 1970s, was operated for decades by Wisconsin Public Service before being sold to Virginia-based Dominion Resources around 2003. It operated under a power-purchase agreement to sell energy back to WPS until 2013, when the owners moved to shut the facility down for financial reasons, according to Wilson.
That site was then sold to EnergySolutions, which still owns it. The company specializes in decommissioning facilities like this and disposing of the materials there.
While the physical infrastructure of the original reactor can no longer be used, discussions began recently around using the location for a new nuclear development, Wilson said.
“EnergySolutions, the current owner, has been making good progress in tearing it apart, decommissioning it, doing all the correct things one does when one disposes of a nuclear power plant,” he said. “So most of that physical infrastructure is not available to be used. One thing that is available is all the electrical switchyard, the transmission lines … that’s very valuable.”
See the full story here.
Editor’s note: AI and data centers are just the tip of the iceberg. Across the country, states are overhauling everything from coal and nuclear plants to electric rates and tax incentives to keep up with surging demand — and mounting voter frustration over higher bills. This week, State Affairs takes you inside the new energy crunch, showing how it’s reshaping policy, politics and your wallet.
— States are casting a wide net in their efforts to meet a surging electricity demand being driven by the burgeoning data center infrastructure necessary for artificial intelligence.
The raft of policy solutions include measures to boost residential and larger solar projects; streamline the permitting process and reduce barriers to building energy projects; implement grid-enhancing technologies; establish virtual power plants; and incentivize nuclear and geothermal projects.
The goal is to tap into what is shaping up as a modern-day Industrial Revolution, in which data centers power artificial intelligence applications that leaders say could one day overhaul the economy.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, said data centers were so important that they were equivalent to factories that produce knowledge.
“Every governor is going to want to be able to manufacture intelligence in their state, whether it’s to cure cancer, have top-notch research, have every school child have their own tutor,” Burgum said at the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington, D.C. “It’s going to transform every job, every company in every industry. It absolutely is, and it’s coming at a rate that’s even faster than the PC revolution.”
Virginia-based consulting and technology services company ICF projects that U.S. electricity demand will increase by 25% from 2023 to 2030 and by 78% by 2050, primarily due to the development of data centers.
Data centers are large buildings that house computing and networking equipment. The networking systems support functions such as cloud computing, video streaming and artificial intelligence applications that are particularly energy-intensive. On average, a ChatGPT query consumes nearly 10 times as much electricity as a Google search, according to an analysis by Goldman Sachs.
States are considering several ways to help meet that demand.
At least eight states are pursuing policies to ramp up solar power because it is among the cheapest and fastest forms of electricity generation currently available.
See the full story here, part of a series of national energy stories running this week from State Affairs/Pluribus.
— Dairyland Power Cooperative is purchasing three natural gas plants in Illinois totaling 450 megawatts.
The La Crosse-based co-op on Friday announced the acquisition of three combustion turbines at the Elwood Energy site from J-POWER USA. The co-op’s president and CEO, Brent Ridge, says the move is “foundational to meeting the long-term reliability and resource needs” of the rural communities served by its members.
Dairyland says it has now retired nearly 600 megawatts of coal-fired generation since 2014, and is using a nearly $600 million federal grant to acquire power purchase agreements for about 1,000 megawatts of wind and solar in the region.
See the release.
— Legislation from Dem lawmakers would create new price increase notification requirements for drugmakers, which authors say would boost transparency for patients in Wisconsin.
Reps. Ann Roe of Janesville and Lisa Subeck of Madison as well as Sen. Brad Pfaff of Onalaska recently sent out a co-sponsorship memo seeking support for LRB 5047/1.
They point to drug manufacturers in the state and elsewhere “dramatically increasing” the prices for brand-name and generic medications, arguing these increases are often justified only by “vague” references to research and development costs.
“To bring greater accountability and transparency to drug pricing, we are introducing legislation to increase pharmaceutical cost transparency in Wisconsin,” they wrote.
Under the legislation, drug manufacturers would be required to notify the state Department of Health Services and Office of the Commissioner of Insurance if it’s increasing the wholesale acquisition cost of a brand-name drug in the state by more than 25% over 24 months.
They would also have to provide notice if they plan to introduce a brand-name drug with an annual wholesale acquisition cost of $30,000 or more, according to analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Other provisions would set similar requirements for generic drugs, forcing manufacturers to provide notice if they boost the wholesale cost of a generic drug in the state by more than 25% or more than $300 during a 12-month period. And they would have to inform DHS and OCI if they plan to introduce a generic drug with an annual wholesale cost of $3,000 or more.
Companies would have to provide the notice at least 30 days beforehand and offer a justification, while also reporting annually to the two state agencies on the value of price concessions provided to pharmacy benefit managers for drugs that required such a notice.
Other provisions under the bill relate to reporting for manufacturer-sponsored assistance programs, financial penalties for failure to provide notice, online posting requirements and staffing and administration appropriations for DHS, which would get two-full time positions under the proposal.
Authors note they worked with the agency to draft the bill.
The co-sponsorship deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday.
See the bill text.
For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.
Sign up here.
— DATCP recently issued four bird flu notices within a one-week period after the disease was found in three commercial poultry flocks and one backyard flock.
The agency most recently announced highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, was found in a commercial flock in Jefferson County. DATCP says the affected flock has been quarantined, and birds there will be killed in hopes of preventing disease spread.
That’s the fourth HPAI notice to come from the agency this year, following a case reported the same day in Walworth County where similar measures were taken. Another case was reported in a backyard flock in Dane County on March 2, after an earlier case was reported Feb. 27 in a Jefferson County commercial flock.
By comparison, the agency issued seven HPAI notices for all of 2025, including three within a two-week period in October and two within one week in December.
See all releases here and see a map of HPAI Control Areas and Surveillance Zones in the state.
TOP STORIES
Milwaukee Tool suspended production, shipments at height of 2025 tariffs
‘We’ve seen this before’: Bird flu again hits Wisconsin poultry farms
UW-Madison lukewarm on 3-year degrees despite UW system’s blessing
TOPICS
AGRIBUSINESS
– Wisconsin pork group partners with Ducks Unlimited
– Wisconsin cattlemen elect Jared Geiser as new WCA president
ECONOMY
– The latest economic insights
EDUCATION
– Former Northwestern Mutual CEO named exec-in-residence at Marquette
ENTERTAINMENT & THE ARTS
– Neighbors start GoFundMe for Urban Cultural Arts after building fire
ENVIRONMENT
– Fire devastates parts of the Menominee Tribe’s famed lumber business
INSURANCE
– Wisconsin residents could buy BadgerCare insurance under proposals
LABOR
– ‘Get in early’ is the name of the game in developing the future workforce
MANUFACTURING
– Maxon Industries plans $2.6 million expansion on Milwaukee’s north side
REAL ESTATE
– Rolling the dice on condos: Three projects test return of ownership in Milwaukee
– Former West Milwaukee hotel property sold to developer
– ‘Were we lied to?’ Reader questions prices of new homes in Neenah
PRESS RELEASES
See these and other press releases
Community Shares of Wisconsin: Another record-smashing year for The Big Share
