Clean Wisconsin issued the following statement on Tuesday after WEC Energy Group officially decided to shutter the Pleasant Prairie coal plant, following a recent presentation highlighting planned investment in 350- megawatts of solar power in Wisconsin by 2020:
“This is a great step for WPS and WE Energies’ from coal and toward solar power, and it is a big win for Wisconsin. They are recognizing that the future of energy is clean, local, and renewable. As the largest investment of clean energy in our state, this will create local jobs and bolster our economy while safeguarding public health and sustaining clean air and natural resources.
“Politicians in Madison and Washington keep looking at the energy sources of the past. We’re glad to see WEC looking forward, understanding that switching from dirty fuels like coal to clean energy is the right thing to do both economically and environmentally. With the transition to the future of energy in Wisconsin, our air will be cleaner, our kids healthier, and our state will run more on cost-effective, locally-sourced energy.
“We applaud this transition while knowing this is only the first of many steps towards a robust clean energy economy in Wisconsin. We expect that this will set the bar for other utilities in the state to meet in the near future.”
