Oak Creek Power Plant Among Top Carbon Dioxide Polluters In WI: Report

OAK CREEK, WI — A We Energies coal-fired power plant in Oak Creek ranked among the top carbon dioxide polluters in America in a recent study by the Wisconsin Environment Research and Policy Center.

There are two separate coal generating stations in Oak Creek: The newer Elm Road Generating Station, and the older Oak Creek Power Plant. Both ranked in the top 10 for "dirtiest" power plants in Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin Environment Research and Policy Center report.
The Elm Road plant took the study’s top seat for the most carbon dioxide emissions among power plants in the Badger State.

The policy center released its report on June 22. The group said it used information from the Environmental Protection Agency’s eGRID 2020 dataset.

Nationwide, the Elm Road plant ranked No. 32 for carbon dioxide emissions among American power plants.
The Elm Road station’s 2020 carbon dioxide equivalent emissions were 7.07 tons, equivalent to the emissions from 1,524,354 vehicles, according to the report.

The older coal units at the Oak Creek Power Plant, considered separate from the Elm Road Generating Station nearby, ranked at No. 4 for the “dirtiest” power plant in Wisconsin in the report.

Those generators had a 2020 carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of 3.25 million tons, according to the environmental report.

We Energies plans on removing the older coal generators in the coming years while maintaining the newer ones at the Elm Road Generating Station. Recently, however, We Energies delayed the retirement of the older units because of concerns about energy supplies in the coming years.

SEE ALSO: We Energies Delays Retirement Of Oak Creek Coal Generators

In the past, We Energies has asserted that the Elm Road station is among the cleanest coal-burning plants. The units were put into action in 2010 and 2011, and the company says more than 99 percent of fly ash from them is removed by a baghouse, according to We Energies' website.

But the environmental report—which comes as the Supreme Court limits what the EPA can do about power plants—asserts the power plants in Oak Creek and several others in Wisconsin have an outsized impact on the planet when it comes to carbon dioxide.

SEE ALSO: EPA’s Power To Regulate Wisconsin’s Carbon Emissions Curbed By SCOTUS

In Wisconsin, the top 10 most climate-polluting plants were responsible for generating 63.5 percent of the state's total electricity, yet were responsible for almost 90 percent of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from the state’s entire energy sector, the report said.

"To keep up with today’s energy demands and to meet our climate goals, it is beyond time to get power plant pollution under control," said the report from Wisconsin Environment Research and Policy.

The group made several policy recommendations in light of the power plant ranking, including asking the EPA to enact the strongest possible limits on carbon dioxide pollution and encouraging Congress to pass a climate package.