State report not for or against Alliant’s Cassville plant
From an article by Judy Newman in the Wisconsin State Journal:
Wisconsin Power & Light ‘s proposal to build a coal- and biomass-fired power plant at Cassville would not be the least expensive option or the least polluting way to meet the Madison utility ‘s electricity needs, and it could disrupt an eagle-nesting area, mussels habitat and a culturally significant site, a state report shows.
But the final environmental impact statement on the proposal, made public Tuesday, does not recommend for or against the plans for a 300-megawatt power plant.
In fact, there are few changes from a draft report issued in May, even though WPL announced in June that if state regulators OK the proposal, it will use wood and grasses for 20 percent of the plant ‘s fuel, up from 10 percent, will close an aging coal-fired plant near Sheboygan and boost its wind power production.
Those amendments came in too late to be analyzed for the environmental report by staff of the state Public Service Commission, Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“We ‘re still evaluating some of that, ” PSC spokesman Timothy Le Monds said.
