Economic Impact and Local Concerns
The obvious benefit to building a power plant is the security of knowing there will be a sufficient supply of electricity for our future. But, there are other benefits, particularly economic, that are associated with constructing a $752-million asset in a community.
Current Revenue Sharing
Local municipalities that host power plants receive shared revenue payments from the state of Wisconsin. Because of the existing Weston units, shared revenue payments for Marathon County in 2007 were $346,770. The Village of Kronenwetter received $154,470 in 2007 and the Village of Rothschild received $539,071 in 2007, according to the State Department of Revenue.
Future Revenue Sharing when Weston 4 Begins Operating
Weston 4 is expected to become operational in 2008. When that happens, annual revenue payments would increase from current payments. Kronenwetter would receive $883,880 annually and Rothschild would receive $382,787 annually. Marathon County would receive $933,333.
Construction Workforce
The construction work-force for Weston 4 will be between 1,000 and 1,250 workers for the four years it will take to build the plant. The workforce brings with it an estimated gross payroll of $250 million. All general construction labor is being coordinated locally by the Northeast Wisconsin Building and Trades Council with an emphasis on hiring local as much as possible.
Even despite the emphasis on hiring locally, about 40 to 50 percent of the construction workforce is from outside the central Wisconsin area. This means housing, meals, entertainment and other retail sectors benefit greatly.
Existing Weston Workforce
About 150 people currently work at existing Weston Units 1, 2 and 3. During normal operations, these plants are available to produce electricity 24/7. Most of the current workers live within the greater Marathon County and Wausau areas.
Local Construction Goods and Services to Benefit
Building a power plant requires a lot of lumber, concrete and other building materials as well as services to support this massive construction effort. An additional $20 million to $30 million in local goods and services were purchased during construction of Weston 4.
Local Contractors Prosper
As much as possible, Weston 4 uses local contractors to do work to complete the project. As of February 2005, nearly 80 local contracts were awarded for work at Weston 4. Here is a partial list of contractors and subcontractors with local or regional ties that have been awarded contracts:
- AON of Green Bay (insurance)
- August Winters & Sons of Appleton
- The Boldt Company, Stevens Point
- Coatco of Kaukauna
- Columbia Pipe of Wausau
- County Materials of Marathon and Wausau
- Dawes Rigging and Crane Rental of Kaukauna
- Fastenal of Wausau
- Greenheck Fans & Ventilation
- Greenheck of Wausau
- Haessly and Haessly of Wisconsin Rapids
- Howard Immel of Green Bay
- JF Ahern of Fon du Lac
- JJ Keller of Neenah (background checks)
- James Peterson & Sons of Medford
- Krech Ojard and Associates of Superior
- Kohls Plumbing of Vesper
- Long Vans of Kaukauna
- McMahon and Associates of Neenah
- Merrill Iron and Steel of Schofield
- Mid-State Contracting of Wausau
- Miron Construction
- North American Hydro of Wausau
- Pearl Engineering of Wisconsin Rapids
- Point of Beginning of Stevens Point
- REI Engineers of Wausau
- Riverview Construction of Wausau
- Stainless Specialists of Wausau
- STS Consultants of Schofield
- Sulzer Machine of Mosinee
- Systems Technologies of Merrill
- Team Industries of Kaukauna
- Triple E of Kaukauna
- Tweet Garot of Green Bay and Wisconsin Rapids
- United Rental of Wausau
- Van Ert Electric of Wausau
Merrill Iron and Steel is one example of a local company that was awarded a contract approaching $20-million to manufacture the five large coal silos that will be needed at Weston 4. Each silo measures 75 feet in height and 30 feet in diameter and will store about 1,000 tons of coal.
New Permanent Jobs
When Weston 4 begins operation in 2008, an additional 41 permanent power plant jobs will be needed to operate the plant. Most of the new jobs will be in the maintenance, electrician, instrument and control and operations areas. The estimated additional annual payroll for Weston 4 once operational is $2.4 million.
Related Information
PLEASE NOTE: PDF files require Acrobat Reader 5.0 or greater. If you don't have this version, you can download your free copy from Adobe.
- Weston 4 Will Generate a Lot More Than Electricity
[PDF: 660KB / 1 page] - The Economics of Weston 4
[PDF: 92KB / 1 page]