625-Megawatt Gas Plant Plan in Wisconsin Canceled, Ending Seven-Year Fight
On November 1, energy news came from Superior, Douglas County, Wisconsin: Dairyland Power Cooperative and South Shore Energy have formally canceled the Nemadji Trail Energy Center plan and filed with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to withdraw the project's permits. The project would have built a 625-megawatt natural gas plant on the shore of Lake Superior, and it drew sustained opposition from local residents, cooperative members, representatives of the Fond du Lac and Red Cliff bands of Lake Superior Chippewa, and multiple environmental organizations.
The environmental group Clean Wisconsin said it has been involved in the regulatory proceedings and legal advocacy since 2019, and that the opposition campaign has lasted more than seven years. Supporters of the cancellation argue the plant posed climate impacts, weak economics and air-quality-related public health risks, and Superior city officials also took part in the opposition. Opponents also pointed out that, as energy markets and climate considerations keep changing, the project had become increasingly hard to justify economically.
The withdrawal ends years of permitting effort and stands as an outcome of the long campaign by local communities, tribal representatives and environmental groups. Discussion among the parties about the future energy layout of the Lake Superior shore will continue after the cancellation.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 威斯康星州苏必利尔港（资料图）。Donald Emmerich摄，Public domain，经Wikimedia Commons。 / The harbor at Superior, Wisconsin (file photo). Photo by Donald Emmerich, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
