Glacier Hills Wind Park

The Glacier Hills Wind Park will be located in the towns of Randolph and Scott in Columbia County.

Project size

In May 2009,we signed a conditional agreement with Vestas Wind Systems as the preferred supplier for 90 wind turbines. The agreement calls for the supply and maintenance of the Vestas V90 1.8-megawatt turbine.

Need

We are pursuing additional wind energy to meet increasing customer demand for renewable energy and to meet the state of Wisconsin’s Renewable Portfolio Standard. The standard requires Wisconsin utilities to generate 10 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2015. At We Energies, our current portfolio includes approximately 3 percent from renewable energy.

Construction

Construction began on May 17, 2010. Activities in 2010 focus on constructing access roads and foundations. In 2011, the turbine equipment will be delivered and erected. Additional work in 2011 includes construction of the substation and collector system.

In March, we announced development of a Wisconsin-based alliance to design and build Glacier Hills Wind Park. The construction alliance includes The Boldt Company of Appleton, Michels Corporation of Brownsville and Edgerton Contractors, Inc. of Oak Creek.

Developing Glacier Hills Wind Park through this home-state construction alliance benefits Wisconsin's economy while achieving a low-cost approach to generating more energy from renewable resources. We are building the project with the talents of these Wisconsin companies and local craft labor. Providing benefits to Wisconsin businesses is important to us and to our customers.

For additional information please call 920-319-6097.

Approvals and timeline

As a regulated utility, we were required to obtain authorization from the PSCW to construct the project. We filed the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity application (PDF 1821k) on Oct. 27, 2008.

In September 2009, the PSCW issued the Final Environmental Impact Statement (PDF 4200k) on the project. Technical hearings were held on Nov. 2, 2009, and public hearings were held in the local community on Nov. 4, 2009.

The PSCW issued the Certificate of Public Convenience(PDF 1.7mb) and Necessity authorizing construction of the project on Jan. 22, 2010.

In addition, we work with the local communities and numerous other agencies including: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Federal Aviation Administration, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Federation, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Wisconsin State Historical Society and National Heritage Inventory.