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Utility Closes Coal Facility Amid Transition To Natural Gas

It's The Third Coal Plant The Utility Has Shuttered Since 2015

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Alliant Energy coal power plant in Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Alliant Energy coal power plant in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Royalbroil (CC BY-SA)

A Wisconsin-based utility has shut down one of its largest coal-fired generators as it makes progress on the construction of a $700 million natural gas plant.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports that Alliant Energy closed the 49-year-old facility in Sheboygan last week. It’s the third coal plant the utility has shuttered since 2015. The company is working to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

The utility will replace the facility with a combined-cycle plant at its Beloit campus. The West Riverside Energy Center will burn natural gas to turn turbines and use heat to create steam that will turn a generator. The plant will also feature a $10 million solar garden.

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The new plant is scheduled to be operational in 2020.

Alliant Energy serves about 960,000 customers in Wisconsin and Iowa.

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