We Energies plans to build a new natural gas power plant in Wisconsin’s Fox Valley.
The utility filed an engineering plan with state regulators last week for a 750-megawatt natural gas power plant, dubbed the Fox North Energy Center. It would be built at the existing gas-fired Fox Energy Center site in the village of Wrightstown.
n a statement, We Energies spokesperson Brendan Conway said the Fox North Energy Center will help meet the state’s growing energy needs while improving grid reliability across the region.
“The engineering plan marks the first step in the review process,” Conway said. “Additional information about the project will be provided through regulatory filings in the coming months.”
The proposal comes as a draft report from state utility regulators found electricity demand in Wisconsin is expected to rise by 40 percent by 2032, driven by three large data center developments. The same report projected coal would fall to around 3 percent of Wisconsin’s energy generation, while natural gas would rise to about 50 percent by 2032.
Utilities and energy developers across the state are proposing new electricity generation in response to rising demand.
We Energies also plans to spend more than $2 billion to acquire a pair of natural gas projects that Chicago-based energy developer Invenergy has proposed in Kenosha and Walworth counties, able to generate a combined roughly 1,500 megawatts.
Invenergy also wants to build a pair of gas plants in Calumet County that would be able to generate a combined 1,900 megawatts. A spokesperson for We Energies declined to say whether the company planned to purchase those plants, but one was included in a spreadsheet it filed as part of its ongoing rate case.
We Energies hasn’t said whether the proposed gas plant in Wrightstown would serve a data center.