UTILITY REGULATORS APPROVE $649M PURCHASE OF WISCONSIN'S LARGEST RENEWABLE ENERGY PLANT

Three utilities have received approval from Wisconsin utility regulators to buy the state’s largest renewable energy plant.

The Public Service Commission has approved the $649 million purchase of the Koshkonong Solar Energy Center by We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service, and Madison Gas and Electric.

The utilities are buying the solar plant from Chicago-based developer Invenergy. The commission approved its construction last year in the towns of Christiana and Deerfield in Dane County, the solar panels covering roughly half of the 4,600 acre site.

The project would host 300 megawatts of solar — enough to power 90,000 homes — and 165 megawatts of battery storage, according to Milwaukee-based WEC Energy Group.

"This project is an important part of our plan to aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions while providing customers affordable, reliable and clean energy," according to Scott Lauber, President and CEO of WEC Energy Group.

WEC Energy Group owns We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, or WPS. Brendan Conway, the utilities’ spokesperson, said the project is part of a plan to transition away from fossil fuels and save customers $2 billion over the next twenty years. All three utilities aim to cut carbon emissions eighty percent below 2005 levels by the end of the decade and go carbon-neutral by 2050.