Wisconsin Energy was already one of North America’s largest electric and natural gas delivery companies but as far back as the early 2000s, its aging infrastructure made executives feel vulnerable. To position the company for the future, they invested US$3b in new power plants with a total capacity of 2,800 megawatts, US$1.3b to upgrade existing power plants and US$2.7b to upgrade the distribution system. Their Power the Future campaign began in 2003 with the installation of two natural-gas-fueled combined-cycle units to replace the 80+ year-old coal plant at Port Washington, WI and two new coal-fueled super-critical generating units at Oak Creek in Milwaukee County. All the new units had advanced emissions controls. Just a decade later, and despite the acquisition of Integrys Energy Group, executives at the newly named WEC Energy Group (WEC) concluded that the generation portfolio that they had believed would keep the 4.4 million-customer utility commercially, economically, and environmentally viable until 2020-2030 needed an upgrade. With concern about greenhouse gases rising, low gas prices undermining the economics of their coal units, and demand for energy weaker than previously forecast, the only way to grow the company would be from within, by raising WEC’s operational game.
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