Utility calls new Weston 4 efficient, clean

From an article by Brian Reisinger in the Wausau Daily Herald:

Wisconsin Public Service Corp. on Monday [August 18] will formally dedicate the Weston 4 power plant, which the utility considers a new standard in efficiency and environmental standards.

"We're raising the bar for a lot of other companies," Bruce Bruzina, assistant vice president of energy supply operations, told members of the media on a tour of the plant Friday.

The plant, located along Old Highway 51 in the villages of Rothschild and Kronenwetter, cost more than $770 million to build. It first produced electricity in March and went fully online in June. The plant's capabilities could reduce the utility's need to purchase energy, which gives customers more reliable and affordable service in the long run, WPSC officials said.

At full capacity, the plant produces about 530 megawatts per hour for distribution, more than the utility's three other nearby plants combined, Bruzina said. It uses about 6,600 tons of coal a day, just 600 tons more than the other three plants combined.

The plant uses cutting-edge technology to limit emissions and reuse water, Bruzina said.

Environmental advocates, however, remain leery. Rich Wentzel, chairman of the Wisconsin River Country Sierra Club, pointed to gas, wind and solar power as cleaner alternatives. The new WPSC plant, he said, is unnecessary and doesn't employ "bubble jet" technology that could have made it cleaner.