From 19th
century London to 21st century Madison....
Madison is home to five (that’s
right - FIVE) antiquated coal fired power plants. The three
major ones include the Dept. of Administration’s Capitol Heating Plant
(built in 1908 with no modern pollution control), the UW-Madison’s
Charter Street Plant (built in 1956 with very little modern pollution
control) and the MG&E Blount Street Plant (built in 1902 also with
no modern pollution control). Plus, the state runs two other plants
on a combination of coal, natural gas, and oil at Hillfarms and Mendota.
In fact, Wisconsin still gets 75% of its electricity from dirty coal
power plants and thus routinely violates federal air quality standards,
which prompted the Sierra Club to file a Clean Air Act lawsuit back
in Dec. 2006.
Known as Wisconsin’s filthiest
power plant, MG&E’s Blount St. plant in the very heart of Madison
generated about 5% of the electricity for its 135,000 customers in 2006.
Another 44% of MG&E’s electricity came from its coal plant in
Columbia, WI – just upwind from Madison and the Yahara Watershed.
In contrast, MG&E’ s highly touted $15 million Kewaunee wind farm
with 17 turbines is a drop in the bucket at half of 1% of its total
electricity output.
The green washing doesn’t
stop there. In 2004 MG&E built a brand new cogeneration plant
on the UW-Madison campus. A $125,000 campaign contribution from
MG&E to Sen. Chuck Chvala’s secret campaign fund helped win approval
for the project. Promises made by MG&E executives and UW bureaucrats
that the new natural gas plant would enable them to phase out the Charter
St. coal plant proved false. Instead, over $80 million in public
money was used to underwrite yet another corporate-controlled power
plant in Madison dependent upon on another expensive non-renewable energy
source. In the end, MG&E executives and shareholders made
off with millions at the expense of state taxpayers and university students.
MG&E has now pledged to
switch the Blount St. coal plant to natural gas by 2011. But,
once again, there are a few strings attached – namely, the public
must first approve the powerline proposed by American Transmission Company
(ATC) so that MG&E can become a global energy trader. If approved,
this line would shunt hydroelectricity from as far away as Manitoba
into the Midwest power grid. Indigenous communities and family
farmers have been resisting the powerline for decades, and as grassroots
resistance grows in Dane County, MG&E’s true mercenary nature
has been revealed. Gary J. Wolter, MG&E’s CEO sits
on the ATC board, while MG&E’s Transco Investment LLC subsidiary
holds much ATC stock. MG&E is also a heavy investor in Wisconsin
Energy’s contested coal power plants in Oak Creek near Milwaukee.
Ironically enough, on April 5th, 2005 when Gov. Doyle signed
an executive order creating a new Office of Energy Independence, he
also authorized construction of yet another coal fired power plant in
Wisconsin.
What Are the Consequences
of Dirty Coal Energy for Madison?
Anyone who drives (or bikes
or walks) in downtown Madison gets the “pleasure” of seeing the
belching stacks of MG&E’s coal plant on a daily basis. Nearby
residents have to deal with a daily dose of soot and ash that makes
hanging your clean laundry outside a dubious proposition. MG&E’s
Blount St. coal plant remains the largest single source of soot and
smog in all of Dane County, and is also the largest single source of
greenhouse gas emissions. Invisible pollutants that enter people’s
lungs or precipitate into the nearby lakes are an even worse threat.
MG&E’s Blount St. coal plant is far and away the largest source
of mercury pollution in Dane County, which directly affects anyone who
eats fish from the Yahara Watershed. The Madison School
District reports increasing asthma rates among children, and 1 out of
10 Dane County residents (40,000+ people) have been told by a doctor
that they suffer from asthma. For a city with such a progressive
“good life” reputation, it is shocking that this health menace still
persists.
Who Really Profits From
the Burning of Dirty Coal?
MG&E may have serviced
street lamps back when it started in 1855, but today it is a massive
corporation with close to $1 billion in assets and a guaranteed rate
of return of 11% for its shareholders - thanks to the largesse of the
Public Service Commission. Concerns that a wannabe “Enron”
might be emerging in Madison’s backyard were first raised in mid 2006
by members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
Local 2304 when MG&E tried to eliminate pension benefits for new
hires as part of contract negotiations. As already mentioned,
there is a long sordid history of kickbacks, conflicts of interest,
and sweetheart deals which have enabled corporations like MG&E to
continue their dirty energy work in Wisconsin.
In 2003 the DNR and MG&E
signed a cooperative environmental agreement, basically letting the
utility sidestep certain regulations in exchange for a pledge to do
better in other areas. Many would argue that such cozy ties between
MG&E and the DNR have compromised the state’s capacity to defend
the public’s interest. A similar “scratch my back and I’ll
scratch yours” relationship exists between MG&E and certain environmental
organizations and social service agencies which receive generous corporate
donations (actually provided by electricity ratepayers) and in exchange
often remain silent or serve as apologists when others dare to criticize
MG&E.
Want Clean Energy?
– Then Municipalize and Decentralize Your Supply!
Believe it or not, over 43
million people in the U.S. actually get their electricity from publicly
owned utility companies, leading many to wonder just why residents and
ratepayers in Madison and Dane County have not yet municipalized MG&E.
If MG&E was brought under local control and democratic oversight,
than it would be much less interested in burning dirty coal and building
power lines simply to line the pockets of its executives and shareholders.
Wisconsin spends over $12 billion per year importing energy into the
state. Through serious conservation programs, increased energy efficiency,
and development of renewables, this money could be more wisely reinvested
in the local economy and create good jobs here at home. Just imagine
– one day in Madison someone will be able to turn on a light and not
worry that their use of energy may have destroyed indigenous communities
or contributed to the extinction of polar bears.
This factsheet was produced for Earth Day (4/22) 2006 by:
Madison Infoshop (IWW I.U. 620)
1019 Williamson St. #B, Madison, WI 53703
tel. 608-262-9036 www.madisoninfoshop.org