WEC Energy Group expects to stop using coal as a power source by 2032, three years earlier than previously expected.
During an earnings call on Tuesday, WEC Energy Group executives presented the utility's plan to become coal-free in eight years, beginning with the shutdown next year of a pair of coal-powered generating units at its We Energies subsidiary's Oak Creek Power Plant.
Other coal-fired units will be retired between 2025 and 2031, resulting in the elimination of more than 1,700 megawatts of generating capacity, equal to the consumption of more than 1 million homes. To help make up for that, the company unveiled plans for an additional $1.4 billion in spending on new sources of renewable energy that, combined with $5.4 billion previously announced, is expected to bring an additional 3,800 megawatts of wind, solar and battery power online over the next five years.
That includes large solar farms that are under construction in Kenosha, Walworth and Iowa counties as well as new developments that have not been publicly announced.
Meanwhile, the company will invest in "enhancing fuel flexibility" at newer generating units in Oak Creek and at the Weston Power Plant in Marathon County that will burn a mix of natural gas and coal. With those improvements, WEC expects to be using coal as a backup fuel only by the end of 2030 and to fully phase out its use two years later.