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We Energies' repowered 545-MW gas-fired power plant on the shore of Lake Michigan replaces a coal-fired plant that was the most efficient in the world when it went on-line in 1935. The new plant isn't just more efficient and much cleaner than the old one. It also takes advantage of a new Wisconsin law that allows a non-utility generation company to build and own, but not operate, power plants.
Owner: We Power LLC
Operator: We Energies
Milwaukee-based We Energies is proud of the newest member of its power plant family--the 545-MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle Port Washington Generating Station (PWGS) on the shore of Lake Michigan (Figure 1). PWGS replaces the old Port Washington Power Plant, a coal-fired unit that in its heyday was a model of efficiency (see box). The new plant also is the twin of another unit that will be coming on-line right next door in 2008.
Why is PWGS one of POWER's Top Plants of 2005? Because its combined-cycle configuration is used to meet intermediate loads--which is unusual--and because it is the first power plant built under an interesting new state law that allows utilities to lease power plants from unregulated owners.
Less risk, same reward
We Energies decided to build PWGS after the Wisconsin State Legislature enacted the Leased Generation Law in 2001. The law allows a non-utility generation company (such as We Power LLC, which is owned by We Energies), to build and own--but not operate--new generating units. The law received broad support from a coalition of customers, environmentalists, labor unions, the business community, and the state's municipal and cooperative utilities. We Energies developed its "Power the Future" (PTF) program in response to the law's passage.
"The PTF program works like this," explains Mark Stone, a We Power VP and the director of the PWGS project. "We Energies will be leasing the plant under a long-term contract, as the new law allows." The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved the lease, and PWGS will be operated and maintained by employees of We Energies. When the lease expires, We Energies will have the opportunity to renew it, to buy the generation assets outright, or to secure the generation it needs elsewhere--a win-win-win scenario for the holding company.
"It really is...