Edited at 8:15p to shift an an attribution from We Energies to the Sierra Club.
The parent company of We Energies announced Tuesday afternoon that its coal-fired power plant in Pleasant Prairie will close during the second quarter of next year. Softer than anticipated demand for electricity and more cost-efficient sources of power--including natural gas and renewable--are making the move possible, according to We Energies spokesperson Amy Jahns.
Village officials and the plant's 158 employees were notified of the pending closure Tuesday morning, Jahns said. Efforts will be made to find new jobs within the company for the employees, she said.
The plant went operational on a 425-acre tract of land some four decades ago, eventually spawning Lakeview Corp. Park, which is home to various industries that employee thousands.
Even though the plant was taken off line for a three-month period earlier this year, word of the closure came as a shock to Pleasant Prairie officials, including President John Steinbrink, who'll now lead a planning process that'll determine the site's future in the middle of the hot Chicago-to-Milwaukee development corridor.
We Energies did not offer any hints Tuesday of what the future might hold.
Environmental groups applauded the move. "On the same day that President Trump's EPA administrator is promising coal's comeback, Wisconsin's largest utility is forging ahead with a plan that reduces coal use while betting big on solar," said Sierra Club official Katt Reinders.
We Energies, along with Wisconsin Public Service Corp., is planning on building a 350-megawatt solar panel farm somewhere in Wisconsin, Jahns said.
"Clean Wisconsin" also issued a statement that reads in part, "With the transition to the future of energy in Wisconsin, our air will be cleaner, our kids healthier, and our state will run more on cost-effective, locally-sourced energy."
According to the Sierra Club, 265 coal-fired plants have closed in recent years, and the pace continues unabated during the first months of Donald Trump's presidency.
-0-