Wisconsin Regulators Approve $1.77 Billion Kenosha County Natural Gas Plant to Serve Data Centers
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved Invenergy’s proposed Red Oak Ridge Energy Center, a roughly 1,200-megawatt natural gas peaker plant in the Town of Paris, Kenosha County. Regulators also approved Invenergy’s smaller Foundry Ridge plant in Walworth County, despite residents’ environmental and health concerns and commissioners’ criticism of the state’s approval process.
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin unanimously approved certificates for Invenergy’s proposed Red Oak Ridge Energy Center in the Town of Paris and Foundry Ridge Energy Center in the Town of Darien. We Energies plans to acquire the two natural gas peaker plants for a combined cost exceeding $2.2 billion, with Red Oak Ridge expected to provide nearly 1,200 megawatts and Foundry Ridge 324 megawatts. The projects are intended to address electricity demand growth associated largely with hyperscale data centers and are targeted for operation around 2028 to 2030.
Residents and environmental advocates opposed the plants, citing air pollution, health risks, noise, farmland conversion and rural industrialization. Commission Chairperson Summer Strand and Commissioner Kristy Nieto criticized Wisconsin’s two-step regulatory framework, which allows merchant developers to obtain construction approval without fully demonstrating public need; We Energies’ later acquisition applications will receive additional review of costs and ratepayer impacts. The projects still require air permits and other approvals from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.