South Oak Creek Plant
| Part of the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project. |
| Related categories: |
| Part of the Global Coal Plant Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project. |
| Related coal trackers: |
South Oak Creek Plant is an operating power station of at least 641-megawatts (MW) in Oak Creek, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating. It is also known as Oak Creek Power Plant (OCPP).
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| South Oak Creek Plant | Oak Creek, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | 42.845978, -87.829956 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- New, Unit 5, Unit 6, Unit 7, Unit 8: 42.845978, -87.829956
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | CHP | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Shelved[1][2][3] | fossil gas: natural gas[1] | 300[1] | unknown | not found | – | – |
| Unit 5 | Retired[4] | coal: bituminous | 299.2 | subcritical | – | 1959 | 2024[4] |
| Unit 6 | Retired[4] | coal: bituminous | 299.2 | subcritical | – | 1961 | 2024[4] |
| Unit 7 | Operating | coal: bituminous | 317.6 | subcritical | – | 1965 | 2025 (planned) |
| Unit 8 | Operating | coal: bituminous | 324 | subcritical | – | 1967 | 2025 (planned) |
CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| New | We Energies [83%]; WPPI Energy [8%]; Madison Gas & Electric Co [8%][5][6][5][6][5][6] | WEC Energy Group Inc [83.3%]; MGE Energy Inc [8.3%]; WPPI Energy [8.3%] |
| Unit 5 | Wisconsin Electric Power Co [100%] | WEC Energy Group Inc [100.0%] |
| Unit 6 | Wisconsin Electric Power Co [100%] | WEC Energy Group Inc [100.0%] |
| Unit 7 | Wisconsin Electric Power Co [100%] | WEC Energy Group Inc [100.0%] |
| Unit 8 | Wisconsin Electric Power Co [100%] | WEC Energy Group Inc [100.0%] |
Background
The South Oak Creek Plant occupies We Energies' Oak Creek generating site, along with the Elm Road power station.[7]
Retirement plans
In November 2020, Wisconsin Energy said the coal plant will be retired by 2023-2024, and replaced by a combination of solar, wind, batteries, and gas power. The company said closing the aging South Oak Creek coal plant could save $50 million a year in operational and maintenance costs.[8][9]
In June 2022, We Energies announced that they would delay the planned retirement of the South Oak Creek plant by a year. Units 5 and 6 were slated to retire in May 2024, while Units 7 and 8 were slated to retire in late 2025.[10][11]
In August 2023, it was reported that the WEC Energy Group wouldn't rule out delaying retirement dates at South Oak Creek Plant to help power a US$1 billion planned Microsoft data center. WEC executives reportedly said that the energy-intensive data center was "expected to factor into the company's five-year plan."[12]
According to a June 2024 investor presentation by WEC Energy, Units 5 and 6 of the South Oak Creek plant were retired on May 31, 2024.[13]
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 6,505,811 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 13,594 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 4,631 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 351 lb.
Toxins
The South Oak Creek coal plant is the single largest source of toxic metals dumped into Lake Michigan, according to a September 2020 Chicago Tribune analysis of federal data.[14]
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from South Oak Creek Plant
In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[15] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.[16]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the South Oak Creek Plant
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 44 | $320,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 70 | $7,600,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 730 | $38,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 33 | $750,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 27 | $1,200,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 45 | $16,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20221202132803/https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/energy/2020/11/06/we-energies-plans-shut-down-oak-creek-power-plant-2024/6191575002/. Archived from the original on 02 December 2022.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20230520052032/https://www.wpr.org/epa-proposed-limits-carbon-pollution-power-plants-costly. Archived from the original on 20 May 2023.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20230115020752/https://madison.com/news/local/environment/wisconsin-coal-plants-to-keep-running-amid-reliability-supply-chain-concerns/article_c056bbff-f43f-5985-8f09-264d95a4a761.html. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 (PDF) https://s22.q4cdn.com/994559668/files/doc_presentations/2024/Jun/03/06-2024-june.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20230611042849/https://www.wecenergygroup.com/invest/annualreports/wec2022-annual-report.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2023.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20230522200442/https://wppienergy.org/wp-content/uploads/resources/2022-Financial-Statements.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2023.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Oak Creek Power Plant," We Energies, accessed July 7, 2024
- ↑ Hubbuch, Chris (2020-11-06). "We Energies to retire 1.8 gigawatts of fossil fuel; utility adding solar, wind, battery storage". Kenosha News. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "We Energies will retire the oldest of its Oak Creek power plants by 2024," Biz Journal, November 4, 2020
- ↑ "We Energies announces new timeline for Oak Creek plant retirements," We Energies, June 23, 2022
- ↑ "Report says Wisconsin's energy grid can withstand normal summer, but extreme heat could cause shortages," Wisconsin Public Radio, June 29, 2023
- ↑ "We Energies doesn't rule out further delays to coal plant retirements during earnings call," Wisconsin Public Radio, August 22, 2023
- ↑ "Investor Update: June 2024," WEC Energy Group, June 6, 2024
- ↑ Hawthorne, Michael (2020-09-09). "Trump EPA guts tough standards for toxic metals dumped into US waterways by coal-fired power plants, including biggest polluter on Lake Michigan". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
- ↑ "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010
Additional data
To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datasets, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
