A natural gas-fired power plant that We Energies wants to build near Union Grove prompted hours of disagreement at Public Service Commission hearings Wednesday.
The utility says the new plant would be built near an existing gas-fired plant in the Town of Paris in northern Kenosha County.
We Energies says the additional generation is needed to meet expected increased demand for electricity in the I-94 corridor, including possibly for the large data center Microsoft is building in Mount Pleasant.
About a dozen members of building trades unions testified in favor of the proposed plant, saying 200 construction jobs would be created.
Patrick McMahon is a boilermaker. He says generation from a fossil fuel like natural gas is still needed and that utilities are not ready for a complete switch to cleaner power from wind and solar.
“Natural gas and renewables can work together until we can be independent and run on renewable energies. We just can’t do it now,” McMahon says.
Milwaukee resident Thomas Moore, of the Operating Engineers Union Local 139, says a good-paying construction job can mean a long career.
“I just hope everybody keeps an open mind. For me, I never thought I’d be able to provide for my family the way I do,” Moore said.
But not all union members spoke in favor of the gas-fired plant. Union carpenter Daniel Gulliford says the plant would be at the back edge of his property.
“I bought this house with the intention of dying there. Or passing it on to my kids, grandkids, blah blah blah. I mean, what do I do? The value of my property’s going to go way down,” Gulliford says.
Another Town of Paris resident, Martha Alberth, says air pollution from the nearby plant could harm two of her children, who already have asthma or environmental allergies.
“This plant could emit up to 600,000 tons of greenhouse gases annually, which include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and sulfur hexafluoride — which could lead to respiratory, kidney and cardiovascular diseases, to name a few,” Alberth says.
Milwaukee Metcalfe Park resident Melody McCurtis urged state regulators to block the Kenosha County plant. She says instead—work to reduce demand for electricity by directing We Energies to help with rooftop solar panels on older homes in low-income areas.
“In my neighborhood, we gotta go through so many hoops just to be able to put solar panels and infrastructures in our community. And that ain’t right," McCurtis says.
The Public Service Commission is expected to decide on the Paris plant in the next few months.
