Dairyland Power razes retired Genoa plant
GENOA, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – A power plant that had been in the village of Genoa for more than 50 years was torn down today (3/19/24). First News at Nine’s Dashal Mentzel was there and tells us how Dairyland Power Cooperative plans to continue to look at clean energy in the future.
Several dozen people gathered on this farmland in Vernon County to watch the demolition of Dairyland’s retired power plant. The plant was retired in 2021 and President and CEO of Dairyland, Brent Ridge, says they will continue to use the site in Genoa, “Currently, part of the site is used to store spent nuclear fuel from a decommissioned nuclear power plant. So we still have employees on site, but a large component of the site will now be open and we’re going to be looking for economic development opportunities that could range from manufacturing all the way to another power-generating resource, which would in this case would probably be non-carbon emitting.”
While there are plans for the future, Genoa Village President, Richard Phillips, says it is still sad seeing a building that has been in the village for over 50 years be demolished, “We have such good relations with Dairyland. They did a lot for the village. I’m really going to be sad to see it gone.”
This is Dairyland’s sixth coal plant that has been decommissioned. Ridge says the demolition of the plants is part of a plan for carbon dioxide reduction and a shift to nuclear power, “It’s also a transition into a new phase for our utility, which is we’re going to have fossil fuel. We have two remaining coal plants, and those are going to be in our system for a long time to come. We also have natural gas now we have a significantly lower carbon footprint than we had ten years ago or 20 years ago.”
Wisconsin State Representative Derrick Van Orden, says it is fantastic that Dairyland is shifting towards nuclear power, “If you really want to go carbon-free, then you have to talk about nuclear energy as the only way to do it right now in 2024. So having a modular new plant here would be fantastic to provide consistent, reliable, inexpensive power for people in southwestern Wisconsin.”
Ridge says the demolished steel building will be recycled and the aggregate-based stack will be used for on-site cover.
In Genoa, Dashal Mentzel First News at Nine.
The demolition plans for the power plant began over a year ago and Ridge called today’s demolition a complete success.
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