Pleasant Prairie Power Plant
{{#badges: CoalSwarm}} Pleasant Prairie Power Plant was a 1,233.2-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station owned and operated by We Energies near Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
Location
Plant Data
- Owner: We Energies
- Parent Company: Wisconsin Energy
- Plant Nameplate Capacity: 1,233.2 MW (Megawatts)
- Units and In-Service Dates: Unit 1: 616.6 MW (1980), Unit 2: 616.6 MW (1985)
- Location: 8000 95th St., Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158
- GPS Coordinates: 42.538096, -87.905184
- Technology: Subcritical
- Coal type: Sub-bituminous
- Coal Consumption:
- Coal Source: Antelope Coal Mine (Cloud Peak), Cordero Rojo Mine (Cloud Peak), Black Thunder Mine (Arch Coal), North Antelope Rochelle Mine (Peabody Coal), Caballo Mine (Peabody Coal)[1]
- Number of Employees:
- Unit Retirements: Both Units were retired in April 2018
Unit Closures
In November 2017 We Energies announced both units of the power station would be shutdown in the second quarter of 2018,[2] citing market forces such as cheaper natural gas and renewables for the plant's closure.[3] Pleasant Prairie shut down on April 3, 2018.[4]
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 9,078,102 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 28,566 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 8,729 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 835 lb.
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Pleasant Prairie Power Plant
In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[5] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.[6]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 24 | $180,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 38 | $4,200,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 400 | $21,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 18 | $410,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 15 | $6,500,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 24 | $9,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Articles and Resources
Sources
- ↑ "EIA 923 2018" EIA 923 2018.
- ↑ "We Energies' coal-fired power plant in Pleasant Prairie to be shut down in 2018" Lee Bergquist, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nov 28, 2017
- ↑ Bergquist, Lee (November 28, 2017). "We Energies Coal Fired Plant Pleasant Prairie Shut Down 2018". Retrieved on November 28, 2017.
- ↑ Quirmbach, Chuck (April 4, 2018). "Pleasant Prairie Power Plant Ends Operation", Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved on April 5, 2018.
- ↑ "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
- ↑ "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010
- Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed Jan. 2009.
- Environmental Integrity Project, "Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants", July 2007.
- Facility Registry System, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accessed Jan. 2009.
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External Articles
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