Milwaukee City Wire

State regulators have green-lighted plans for a $171 million natural gas plant near Wausau, despite opposition from ratepayers, environmentalists, and renewable energy advocates.

"The record here shows that we have to build these units,” Commissioner Ellen Nowak told Fox 6 Milwaukee. “They’re necessary. If you like renewables, then ... you need these units. They are a necessary part of the transition."

The plan also has the backing of We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, two of the state’s largest utilities, who argue the plant is needed to maintain the power supply when renewable energy runs short of meeting demand, Fox 6 reported.

The utilities insist the 128-megawatt plant is a key part of a $3.5 billion plan to retire 1,600 megawatts of fossil fuel and replace it with wind, solar and battery storage power, according to Wisconsin Public Radio

As part of the plan WEC Energy Group, which owns the two utilities, has pledged to cut carbon emissions by 80% over the next decade and be carbon neutral by 2050, Fox 6 reported.

Critics of the plan have maintained their opposition by insisting the plant is unnecessary, will increase rates and likely delay a shift away from fossil fuel, according to the report.

Commissioner Tyler Huebner, the lone dissenting voter for the plan which passed March 31, stressed utilities currently have more than 3,000 megawatts of natural gas in their power mix, according to Fox 6.