New gas-fired power plant near Janesville, Wis., goes into service
By Jim Leute, The Janesville Gazette, Wis. -- June 23
When he first walked the field off Townline Road two years ago, Jonathan Nyson strolled among acres of long grass and soybeans. On the same site Tuesday, Nyson was extolling the virtues of a $300 million natural gas-fired power plant, the largest built in Wisconsin in nearly two decades.
The San Jose, Calif.-based Calpine Corp. built and operates the facility that
is capable of producing 600 megawatts of energy. Under nine-year agreements,
Calpine will sell 450 megawatts to Wisconsin Power & Light, an Alliant
Energy subsidiary, and about 75 megawatts to Madison Gas & Electric.
The dual fuel combined-cycle power plant came online June 1. Calpine's
Riverside Energy Center is the largest new power plant built in Wisconsin since
1985 and is among the cleanest and most energy-efficient electric generating
facilities in the Midwest, Calpine officials said Tuesday.
Riverside is Calpine's third major plant in Wisconsin. Calpine also operates
the 460-megawatt Rockgen Energy Center in Cambridge, which provides power to
WP&L, and the 450-megawatt Zion Energy Center in Zion, Ill., which provides
power to Wisconsin Electric Power Company.
Calpine also is currently constructing the Fox Energy Center, located in
Kaukauna, which will go online to serve Wisconsin Public Service Corp. next
year.
"The secure supply of energy is vital to the success of our
economy," Gov. Jim Doyle said in brief remarks at Tuesday's dedication
ceremony. "And Riverside is an important part of meeting our state's energy
needs."
Doyle noted that Wisconsin's energy demands are growing by 2 to 3 percent
each year.
"In the long-term, we need to increase our energy capacity by creating
new facilities such as this," he said.
Bill Harvey, Alliant's president and chief operating officer, agreed, saying
WP&L's recent addition of 950 megawatts represents a 50 percent increase in
the utility's in-state electric generation.
"This is a big, big deal for us," Harvey said. "This gives us
the ability to continue to deliver safe, affordable electricity to our
customers."
Over the course of construction, more than 500 workers worked to build the
new facility.
With Riverside now on line, Calpine's combined presence in the Wisconsin
market totals more than 1,500 megawatts of capacity, serving customers
throughout the state.
"This billion dollar investment in new generating infrastructure
represents the newest and cleanest portfolio of baseload and peaking resources
in the state's power market and will help support Wisconsin's electricity needs
for many years to come," said Jim Shield, Calpine's vice president of
business development.
"We are very pleased to have completed another successful large-scale
project in Wisconsin. Our project team and contractors did an excellent job of
managing construction and commissioning the plant on time to meet our
contractual requirements and help address the state's critical energy needs this
summer."
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