Events at Weston 4
January 25, 2008
Weston 4 Leadership Team is Recognized by OSHA for Construction Safety
With the new power plant construction coming to an end, about two dozen representatives from the various labor groups, contractors, regulators, local officials and Wisconsin Public Service held a recognition ceremony celebrating a construction job done "safely." Melvin Lischefski, Appleton Area Director of the Occupational Safety Health Administration handed out safety recognition plaques to all those involved in the effort. This was part of the culmination of the OSHA Agreement that was signed in November of 2005 when the new plant began construction. The safety effort achieved some outstanding results of worker safety on the job. In a construction project of this magnitude, with a thousand workers doing a thousand jobs, each with some element of risk, safety was always at the forefront of each task. View photos from the celebration.
October 17, 2007
Recycling Efforts Yield "Innovative Achievement Award" at Weston 4
The recycling efforts during the construction of the new Weston 4 Power Plant has yielded impressive results and the "Innovative Achievment Award" from WasteCap Wisconsin. The award was presented to Wisconsin Public Service at WasteCap's annual award ceremony.
Weston 4 has been recycling about 80 percent of its disgarded construction materials. This has saved over $400,000 in landfill costs and found reusable uses for the materials.
WasteCap is a statewide, non-profit organization that provides waste reduction land recycling assistance to businesses.
Bonnie Dawes (located above-right), Investment Recycling Analyst for Wisconsin Public Service, received the award from a WasteCap representative. View photos of Weston 4's recycling efforts.
April 18, 2007
Recycling group "WasteCap Wisconsin" tours Weston 4
The organization that advises businesses in Wisconsin on good recycling practices toured the Weston 4 power plant to get a first hand look at how the massive construction project is yielding impressive recycling results. View photos from the tour.
April 2007
Earth Week 2007
Weston 4 is becoming well-known for its impressive recycling efforts and state-of-the-art environmental systems and controls.
December 22, 2006
WPSC Finalizes Weston 3 Environmental Upgrade Project
Wisconsin Public Service has submitted plans to upgrade the existing emissions control equipment at the 25-year-old Weston 3 Power Plant. The project includes installing additional equipment to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and mercury (Hg) air emissions. View News Release.
December 6, 2006- Transmission Line now 70 percent complete
The Arrowhead to Weston transmission line is now 70 percent complete and is on schedule for a 2008 completion. The American Transmission Company reports a 143-mile segment of the new power line between the Weston Power Plant and the Stone Lake Substation in Sawyer County is now energized and in service. Engineering and construction crews are now working on the remaining 66 miles and expect the entire line to be fully operational by the summer of 2008.
November 15, 2006
Weston 4 Construction Site is the Most Successful
Recycling Effort in the State
Nearly 10-million pounds of materials have been recycled during the first two years of construction. This has yielded a savings of over $250,000. November 15 is " America's Recycling Day."
September 15, 2006
Power line upgrades to Weston 4
With the anticipated addition of 500 megawatts of electricity from Weston 4, upgrades were completed on the power lines going into and coming out of the Weston power plant site. The Weston plant site is in the lower right portion of the photo. This photo was taken by workers on top of the power line structure.
September 2006
Using Local Contractors Whenever Possible
Greenheck Fans of Wausau is one of many local contractors used by Public Service in the building of Weston 4. Ventilation is a key design feature of the Weston 4 plant and Greenheck Fans was the manufacturer of the plant's special large ventilation fans and equipment. A complete listing of local contractors is available in the "Economic Impact and Local Concerns" section of this Web site.
August 2006
Weston 4 construction meets major milestone
The construction of Weston 4 has surpassed the halfway point. August 2006 marked the 21st month of construction in the new power plant’s 42 month construction schedule. At the half way point, the project is on-time and on-budget. The new state-of-the-art power plant is expected to be completed and operational in 2008.
August 29, 2006
Agreement reached over Weston 4 air permit
A settlement agreement was reached in a Wisconsin Department of Justice filing against Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPSC) over the omission of information in the CPCN (Certificate of Public Convenience and Need) application for Weston 4. WPSC agreed to pay $22,000 in local charitable contributions, forfeitures and costs. View News Release.
August 25, 2006
Weston 4 receives "Vision Award"
Weston 4 was a 2006 winner of Constructech Magazine's "Vision Award" for developing an integrated computer system for tracking financial data during the massive power plant construction effort. The program allowed project managers at the plant site, at the corporate office in Green and at the engineering firm in Kansas City to have up to date coordinated financial data. By being able to better track costs at three different geographic locations enabled managers to make better coordinated decisions resulting in money and man-hours saved. Constructech Magazine reports on innovative technology in the construction-related field.
August 15, 2006
Miron Construction Garden Harvest
Fresh home-grown vegetables improved the lunches of Miron Construction personnel during August. Tomatoes, zucchini and green peppers were raised and harvested from a small garden outside the Miron Construction trailer on the busy Weston 4 construction site.
July 17, 2006
Hot, humid weather causes electric use record
Wisconsin Public Service’s electric meter topped out at 2,425 megawatts on the hot afternoon of July 17, 2006. It was the first time in the company’s 123-year history of exceeding the 2,400 megawatt mark. Last summer (2005) eleven electric records were set. View News Release.
May 31, 2006
Electric Generator lifted into place at Weston 4
The huge Weston 4 generator was lifted into place very slowly and methodically. See how the 330-ton generator made its way into the plant in the Construction Photo Gallery.
May 30, 2006
Weston Power Plant Welcomes First Peregrine Falcons
The first foursome of Peregrine Falcons were officially banded and registered and are now living comfortably in a specially designed box on the roof of Weston Unit 3. View News Release.
April 14, 2006
The Weston 4 generator has arrived by rail at the
Weston site
The 550-megawatt electrical generator was manufactured by Toshiba in Yokohama, Japan. It was shipped on February 1, 2006 and finally arrived at the Weston site on April 14, 2006.
April 10, 2006
Electric Generator Arrives in Green Bay
The long journey from Japan to the Weston site is nearing the end. On Friday, April 7, 2006, the 330-ton generator arrived in the port of Green Bay on a barge which was shipped from Chicago. The large generator was off-loaded onto a flat bed and was trucked and placed on a rail car for its final leg of the journey to the Weston site.
March 3, 2006
Environmental Process Improvement Plan at WPSC
Wisconsin Public Service has set up an extensive process improvement plan to ensure all environmental permits are closely monitored for compliance. This includes close scrutiny of coal handling and fuel oil use at the Weston Power Plant site. View News Release.
February 2006
Electrical Generator on its way!
The electrical generator on its way to the Weston Power Plant site from Japan. The generator was made by Toshiba and weighs just over 330 tons. It is being shipped on an ocean vessel to New Orleans. From there it will be transported to the plant site and should arrive in April. From there it will be transported to the port of Green Bay where it will be loaded and transported by rail to the Weston Plant site arriving sometime in April.
February 10, 2006
Weston 4 Air Permit Finalized
The Weston 4 air permit was finalized following an Administrative Law Judge's decision. The Judge made some minor adjustments to the original permit. The judge also included comments about Wisconsin Public Service withholding information during the permitting process, even though the judge indicated the information would not have likely changed his recommendation. Wisconsin Public Service felt it was important to let the community know about this issue. W4 Community Response.
A new 500-megawatt electric generating power plant, Weston 4, is currently being built at Wisconsin Public Service Corporation's Weston Power Plant site south of Wausau in central Wisconsin's Marathon County.
December 2005
Loop Rail Road Track Now in Full Operation
The concern of "additional rail shipments of coal when Weston 4 begins operating would mean local traffic delays" was expressed by local residents early on. We addressed it by including a loop track in the plant's design. This will allow us to transport all the railcars off of the main track and onto the loop track that circles the Weston Plant property. This eliminates having to break the long line of cars on the main track and then bring them onto the plant site as we currently do. The loop track became operational in December 2005.
November 29, 2005
Dairyland Power closes on 30 percent stake in Weston 4 ownership
Dairyland Power Cooperative purchased and closed on a 30 percent ownership of the Weston 4 Power Plant. WPSC will receive 350 megawatts (70 percent) and Dairyland Power will receive 150 megawatts (30 percent). The ownership agreement was approved by regulators on May 19, 2005 and signed on May 24, 2005. The final closing on the sale was November 29, 2005. View News Release.
November 19, 2005
Second Weston 4 Shipment Arrives
The Global Carrier, arrived in the port of Green Bay from Romania on Saturday, November 19, 2005 loaded with Weston 4 equipment. On board were pressure parts, piping and boiler parts. The cargo will be unloaded and shipped to the Weston 4 site. It will take about 110 truck loads to transport the entire cargo to the new power plant.
November 2, 2005
OSHA Partnership Signed
With a strong concern for worker safety, WPSC, contractors and agencies signed an OSHA partnership agreement. View News Release.
October 31, 2005
First Weston 4 Shipment Arrives!
The $752-million power plant addition will use clean coal technology, a high efficiency boiler, use low sulfur coal as fuel and feature state-of-the-art emission controls to minimize environmental and social impacts.
Wisconsin Public Service Corporation will design, construct and operate the new facility and will share ownership with Dairyland Power Cooperative. WPSC would receive 350 megawatts (70 percent) and Dairyland would receive 150 megawatts (30 percent). The ownership agreement was approved by regulators on May 19, 2005 and signed on May 24, 2005.
November 8, 2004
Groundbreaking Complete
The new generator will be located adjacent to the 360-megawatt Weston Unit 3 built in 1981. Also on the property are Weston Unit 1 (60 megawatts-1954) and Weston Unit 2 (90 megawatts-1960). The entire site is 345 acres along the Wisconsin River in the Marathon County villages of Rothschild and Kronenwetter.
The project was announced in September 2002, an application was submitted to regulators in September 2003 and approval was granted by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) in September 2004. Groundbreaking was held in November 2004 and, soon after, construction began. The plant is expected to be operational in the summer of 2008. The four-year construction period will employ between 1,000 to 1,200 workers.
Weston 4 is needed to meet the anticipated 2 to 3 percent annual growth in the state's electrical demand.