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Agreement reached with Regent neighborhood on cogen facility

June 3, 2003

UW–Madison, the State of Wisconsin and Madison Gas and Electric have reached an agreement with the Regent Neighborhood Association that addresses concerns over the proposed West Campus Cogeneration Facility.

The facility is planned for a site at the 600 block of Walnut Street, adjacent to the existing Walnut Street heating plan. The facility has been the subject of numerous public meetings and discussions with nearby residents, most of whom live in the Regent neighborhood.

On Tuesday, the neighborhood association and representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Administration, UW–Madison and MGE signed a memorandum of understanding that addresses air quality, noise abatement and procedures for complaints.

“This is a wonderful example of how, through public input, we have been able to balance the needs of the university with the concerns of our neighbors,” says UW–Madison Chancellor John Wiley. “By including the Regent Neighborhood Association, we have improved upon an already environmentally friendly project.”

The agreement follows a separate memorandum of understanding announced May 22 with Madison-area environmental and consumer organizations, including the Citizens Utility Board, Sierra Club, Wisconsin Environmental Initiative and Wisconsin Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign, which addresses air and water quality and energy conservation. University and MGE officials say the new agreement, which contains some additional guidelines not contained in the agreement with environmental groups, is an important component of the project.

“The Regent Neighborhood Association is an important voice in planning the West Campus Cogeneration Facility. We are very pleased to be part of this cooperative effort and to have reached a mutually acceptable agreement,” Don Peterson, MGE’s executive director for energy products and services, says.

In a statement released Tuesday by the Regent Neighborhood Association, RNA President Joy Drummond praised the cooperation that was needed to reach the agreement.

“The RNA Board has authorized us to sign this MOU that provides for basic protections for the neighborhood concerning noise and air quality issues. We thank all parties for their cooperation regarding this issue, which has been a difficult one for our neighborhood,” Drummond says in the statement.

Some of the highlights of the new agreement require UW–Madison, MGE and the state to:

  • Reduce nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter in the metropolitan area to sufficiently offset emissions from the new facility
  • Use ultra-low sulfur fuel as a backup when natural gas fuel is not available.
  • With the help of the City of Madison, install, maintain and operate an air monitoring station in cooperation.
  • Mitigate noise from the facility so that there is no perceptible noise increases at six locations, which will be set up as part of the agreement.
  • Create an advisory committee of representatives from the Regent Neighborhood Association, the facility and the City of Madison that will address complaints about the facility.

The additional assurances contained in the agreement are meant to ease the neighborhood’s concerns over the natural-gas fired plant, which UW–Madison and MGE officials say will be one of the cleanest-burning power plants in the state. “Cogeneration” refers to the plant’s ability to simultaneously produce 150 megawatts of electricity for the Madison community, and steam heat and chilled water air-conditioning for campus buildings.

The facility is being built through a unique partnership between UW–Madison, the state and MGE intended to help the university address increasing utility needs brought on by rapid growth of facility space, particularly in science and technology, and MGE’s need to expand its capacity to serve the Madison community. The project still requires final approval from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin and the Legislature. The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee signed-off on the project last week.

The full memorandum of understanding with the Regent Neighborhood Association can be found at: http://www.news.wisc.edu/misc/rna_mou.pdf

The RNA’s release can be found at: http://www.news.wisc.edu/misc/rna_mou_release.pdf

More information about the memorandum of understanding with environmental groups can be found at: http://www.news.wisc.edu/view.html?get=8694