Dairyland Power suspending operations at 2 Alma units
Units 4 and 5 at coal-fired Alma Station to be shutdown by early 2015
ALMA, WI — Dairyland Power Cooperative plans to “indefinitely suspend” operations of two units (4 and 5) at the coal-fired Alma Station by early 2015, the company announced Monday.
President and CEO of Dairyland Power Bill Berg says many factors went into the decision to discontinue those units.
“These include age of the facility, system capacity requirements, regulatory requirements, projected maintenance needs and costs, fuel supply, overall cost of power production and regional market prices for energy,” Berg said in a statement. “This decision also aligns with Dairyland’s generation resource plans that include the diversification of its resource mix, including the continued addition of renewable resources.”
Units 4 and 5 were brought online in 1957 and 1960, respectively. On December 31, 2011, the first three units of the Alma Station shutdown.
“Dairyland is making every effort to minimize impacts on our employees,” Berg said. “We are offering eligible employees an early retirement program and have held several other recent positions open following retirements which will give some employees the opportunity to move into other vacant positions within our cooperative.”
Dairlyand Power’s headquarters is in La Crosse. It provides wholesale electricity to 25 member distribution cooperatives and 16 municipal utilities.
