Green Bay’s Pulliam Plant Will ‘Retire’ By End Of 2018

An energy company is shuttering another coal-fired power plant in Wisconsin. WEC Energy is closing its plant in Green Bay, and it comes on the heels of the company closing another facility in Pleasant Prairie.

The Green Bay closure isn’t a surprise, the company announced its plans to shutter the plant last year. But now the company has come out with an updated timeline, saying after 90 years of operation, the Pulliam Power Plant in Green Bay will “retire” by the end of 2018.

WEC is the parent company of We Energies — which announced earlier this week it will close its plant in Pleasant Prairie — and Wisconsin Public Service, which runs the Pulliam plant.

WPS Spokesman Matt Cullen said market forces are also behind the decision to close Pulliam by the end of next year.

Low natural gas prices and large-scale solar are making coal less cost effective, Cullen said. He said WEC is making a company-wide effort to move to cleaner energy sources such as solar and wind.

“We’re pursuing the purchase from a developer of utility-scale solar. Also, WPS is one of three utilities here in the state who has reached an agreement to purchase the Forward Wind Energy Center down in the Fond Du Lac area.”

Cullen said that wind development could generate 57 megawatts of electricity.

Forty-six employees work at the Green Bay plant, and Cullen said it’s too early to tell what will happen to those employees once the plant closes.

Pulliam, named after J.P. Pulliam, a past president of the company, was built in 1927 and sits at the mouth of the Fox River on the western shore of Green Bay.

Green Bay City Alderman Randy Scannell, who represents the district where the plant sits, said the closure a good thing and that there is potential to develop the site into something other than an industrial area.

“It’s a very unique property,” he said, conceding there could be hurdles.

“I’m not exactly sure what all the potential is. It does have some environmental issues and so on, but I’m hoping we can do something very unique and interesting with that site,” he added.

Scannell said the closure could also be good news for waterfowl, as efforts are underway to restore wetlands near the facility.