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Dairyland Continues to Pursue Strategic Solar Projects

Dairyland Power Cooperative (Dairyland) recently announced a new 517-kW solar facility in Oronoco, Minnesota.  While relatively small, the anticipated production characteristics of this solar facility should limit the peak-time burden on other resources.  This solar project supplements the solar energy that Dairyland already receives from two smaller solar facilities, located in...

Minnesota PUC Petitioned to Rethink Project Approval

Certain public interest groups petitioned the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to reconsider its decision approving a $500 million high-voltage transmission line connecting La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Rochester, Minnesota.  The project, currently under construction by Dairyland Power Cooperative and other investing utilities, is scheduled for completion in 2015.  Opponents of...

Dairyland to Retire Alma Station

Dairyland Power Cooperative (Dairyland) has announced plans to shutter two boilers of one of its coal-fired generating plants in Alma, Wisconsin, because of the age of the facility, demand, market prices and regulations.  Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) obligations require that Dairyland produce a quarter of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025.  Currently about 88...

FERC Rejects Challenge to Minnesota-Wisconsin Transmission Line

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has rejected efforts to rescind federal approval for a proposed high-voltage transmission line connecting Rochester, Minnesota, with La Crosse, Wisconsin.  In rejecting a petition against the $500 million project, FERC found that the petitioners lacked sufficient support for their claim that the line would risk grid reliability. ...

Dairyland Power Coop Rebuilding Transmission Line

In September, Dairyland Power Cooperative (Dairyland) began a $22.5 million project to rebuild the 65-year-old, 20-mile Q1 transmission line that provides power to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and its surrounding areas.  The project includes the addition of steel poles and a new conductor and foundations.  Dairyland officials said that when the project is completed, it will eliminate...

Wisconsin Coop Receives Huge Federal Loan Guarantee for Renewable Power

Dairyland Power Cooperative (Dairyland) was awarded a $261.9 million loan guarantee from the federal government to reduce environmental impacts, update technology and improve distribution in a swath of the rural Midwest.  Renewable energy sources make up about 12 percent of Dairyland’s electricity sales, which exceeds the state’s 2015 requirement that all Wisconsin utilities have at...

Radioactive Waste to be Removed from Inactive Dairyland Power Nuclear Plant

Dairyland Power Cooperative’s La Crosse nuclear power plant in western Wisconsin, inactive since 1987, is finally being emptied of its nuclear waste.  The waste has been maintained on site in “wet storage.”  The transfer of the waste to sealed concrete-lined storage tanks is estimated to cost as much as $45 million, which includes careful planning for contingencies such as earthquakes...

Dairyland Power Announces Settlement with Sierra Club and EPA

In a press release, Dairyland Power Cooperative, based in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, outlined the terms of its settlement of alleged emissions violations.  Without conceding any violations of law, the coop has agreed to move forward with a number of emission reduction plans.  Click here for more.

Wisconsin Regulators to Decide on Transmission Project

At a meeting Thursday, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin was expected to decide whether to approve a power line that would run between Alma and Holmen in western Wisconsin.  Northern States Power Company, Dairyland Power Cooperative and WPPI Energy are all working on this $234 million project.  Read more here.

Wisconsin Coop Gears Up For New Mercury Rules

Dairyland Power Cooperative is working to meet new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that would limit emissions of toxic air pollutants at power plants. The coop’s $400 million plan will install pollution controls at two coal-fired plants. In general, coops face a three-year compliance deadline, with some flexibility for states to grant an additional year. The costs...

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