We Energies Plans Another Natural Gas Plant, This One in Fox Valley
We Energies has filed an engineering plan for the proposed 750-megawatt Fox North Energy Center, a natural gas plant at its existing facility in Wrightstown, Wisconsin. Environmental groups criticize the proposal, saying rising demand from data centers is driving a broader expansion of gas-fired generation, although We Energies says the plant would support growing energy needs and grid reliability.
We Energies filed an engineering plan with Wisconsin regulators for the 750-megawatt Fox North Energy Center, a combined-cycle natural gas plant proposed at the existing Fox Energy Center site in the village of Wrightstown. The filing is the first step in the regulatory review process, and the utility has not disclosed an estimated construction cost or said whether the plant would directly serve a data center.
The proposal is part of a broader increase in Wisconsin power-generation projects as regulators anticipate a 40% rise in electricity demand by 2032, driven in part by three large data center developments. We Energies spokesperson Brendan Conway said the plant would help meet demand and improve regional reliability, while Ciaran Gallagher of Clean Wisconsin argued that the rush to build gas plants is linked to data center growth and could increase costs for ratepayers and worsen climate change.