FERC on Feb. 15 allowed We Energies a MISO tariff waiver, making it simpler for the utility to trade gas for coal at its Oak Creek campus in Wisconsin.
The commission granted We Energies a one-time waiver of MISO’s generator interconnection procedure requirements so it can link up a new gas-fired generator at a different voltage to replace its Oak Creek coal plant under a replacement generating facility request (ER24-646).
We Energies plans to retire two of its 60-year-old Oak Creek coal units in May and the remaining two units by December 2025. It intends to replace the capacity with a $1.4 billion, 1.1-GW natural gas power plant and LNG storage facility to be completed in 2028.
Oak Creek is connected to ATC’s 230-kV transmission facilities. ATC plans to transition its system surrounding Oak Creek to 345-kV and 138-kV only and eliminate its 230-kV facilities by 2027, hence the new gas plant requiring an interconnection at a different voltage than the existing coal plant. We Energies said it had to request the waiver due to factors outside of its control.
ATC supported We Energies’ waiver request and said it would be the most cost-effective and efficient means of dealing with the issue. We Energies said if it wasn’t granted the waiver, it would have been forced to either install facilities to interconnect with ATC’s current 230-kV facilities and then replace them soon after with 138-kV- or 345-kV-compatible facilities, or “submit a new interconnection request for a project that would otherwise qualify for MISO’s generating facility replacement process due to no fault of its own.”
Oak Creek’s generator interconnection agreement struck in 2000 did not specify a voltage level for the coal plant’s interconnection service.
FERC said We Energies acted in good faith and that the waiver addresses a concrete problem with no detrimental consequences.
We Energies executives have said the Oak Creek gas plant would serve as a backup power source when renewable energy output dwindles. Nonprofit Clean Wisconsin has argued any new natural gas additions go against We Energies’ goal of achieving an 80% reduction in carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 2030 and 100% carbon-neutral energy by 2050.
