Alliant Energy announces six more solar projects, part of the company's move to cut carbon emissions by 50%

Alliant Energy announced plans for six solar projects totaling 414 megawatts as part of its move to add 1,000 megawatts of solar power in Wisconsin by 2023.

The six projects — projected to cost $515 million — would be in Dodge, Grant, Green, Rock and Waushara counties.

The projects, which must be approved by the Public Service Commission, are in addition to six solar projects totaling 675 megawatts that Alliant announced in May. Those projects are in Grant, Jefferson, Richland, Rock, Sheboygan and Wood counties.

The projects announced Wednesday are:

• Albany, Green County — 50 megawatts
• Beaver Dam, Dodge County — 50 megawatts
• Cassville, Grant County — 50 megawatts
• Paddock, Rock County — 65 megawatts
• Springfield, Dodge County — 100 megawatts
• Wautoma, Waushara County — 99 megawatts

Alliant Energy would develop five of the six projects. The Springfield project is done by National Grid Renewables.

The utility said landowners will be paid a combined $60 million in lease payments over 30 years. The projects also are projected to generate an estimated $50 million in tax revenue for local governments over 30 years.

“This provides tremendous potential for these communities,” Mike Koles, executive director of the Wisconsin Towns Association, said in a statement. “Based on research and dialogue with our members that have partnered with Alliant Energy on previous solar projects, we’ve concluded that Alliant Energy’s development process has been overwhelmingly positive and illustrates model developer behavior that should be mimicked in future solar project planning.”

Alliant Energy has the stated goal of reducing its carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 from 2005 levels and eliminating all coal from its generation fleet by 2040.

There is almost complete acceptance by scientists that carbon emissions are the primary cause of global warming.

In February, Alliant Energy said it plans to close its Columbia Energy Center — the last of its coal-fired power plants in Wisconsin — by 2024.

The power plant, near Portage in Columbia County, can generate more than 1,100 megawatts of electricity. It is co-owned by Wisconsin Public Service Corp., a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group, and Madison Gas and Electric Co.

Alliant Energy also has said it would shut down its Edgewater Generating Station, a coal plant that can generate 414 megawatts of electricity, in Sheboygan by 2022.

But the utility also wants to continue to earn a return  — now 10% a year — on its stockholders’ remaining investment in those power plants until they are fully depreciated.

Depreciation is a bookkeeping entry that reduces the value of a long-term asset over its life. 

That cost — Alliant Energy’s remaining, or stranded, investment in the plants — would be passed onto its customers. At the same time, the utility will earn a return on its investment in the new solar projects.