Plan B for Alliant: More wind power
The company, which is already planning a 200-megawatt wind farm in Minnesota, will also buy 200 megawatts of wind power from NextEra Energy, utility spokesman Rob Crain said.
Under the deal, Alliant has also bought the development rights to a future 160-megawatt wind farm in the Green Lake area. But in order for the deal to go forward, Wisconsin regulators must approve the Bent Tree wind farm in Minnesota, projected to cost $400 million to $450 million, Crain said.
The agreement comes as the utility company prepares for stiffer renewable energy mandates from the state Legislature and reacts to the state Public Service Commission decision last year to deny its bid to build a new coal-fired power plant in southwest Wisconsin.
“The PSC expressed concern over carbon, and we listened,” Crain said. “While Bent Tree was already part of our plan, certainly some of the pieces that we’ve been able to come forward with here as part of this partnership lay the foundation for Plan B in Wisconsin.”
The agreement ends NextEra's opposition to its Minnesota wind farm, and NextEra has withdrawn its involvement in that case, a company lawyer said in a filing. Terms of the deal were filed in a confidential document submitted with state regulators.
Related News
Operating record for Bruce Power as Covid-19 support Council announced
ONTARIO - Canada’s Bruce Power said on 1 May that unit 1 at the Bruce nuclear power plant had set a record of 624 consecutive days of reliable operation – the longest since it was returned to service in 2012.
It exceeded Bruce 8’s run of 623 consecutive days between May 2016 and February 2018. Bruce 1, a Candu reactor, was put into service in 1977. It was shut down and mothballed by the former Ontario Hydro in 1997, and was refurbished and returned to service in 2012 by Bruce Power.
Bruce units 3 and 4 were restarted in 2003 and 2004.…
