The University of Wisconsin and the Department of Administration will offer recommendations later this week to Gov. Jim Doyle on whether to support the proposed campus power plant. Doyle’s decision on whether to provide funding in the upcoming budget for the nearly $200 million power plant could indefinitely prolong the plant’s construction.

Doyle recently asked for further study of the plant’s cost, reevaluating its careful inclusion into the 2001 budget repair bill under former Gov. Scott McCallum’s tenure.

Madison Gas & Electric would split the cost of construction with the university and operate the plant.

The DOA hired the consultant firm Sebesta Blomberg & Associates to assist in the recommendations. The firm released a report Monday emphasizing the heavy cost to taxpayers if Madison Gas & Electric teams up with UW-Madison to build a 150-megawatt plant, compared to the lighter cost of a smaller 45-megawatt plant constructed independently by the university.

The report said over the next 30 years, a 45-megawatt plant would save state taxpayers a total of $232 million.

However, MG&E manager of corporate communications Bryan Brosamle contested the report’s numbers, claiming the cost of the MG&E plant would be $135 million less than a 45-megawatt plant.

“They used incorrect calculations to calculate the net present value over the next 30 years,” Brosamle said.

He said the DOA’s consultant firm underestimated the capital cost to the university by $40 million, understated the cost of natural gas by $13 million and also underestimated the rising costs to maintain the plant over the next 30 years by $48 million.

“This is not based on our analysis. It’s based on studies by General Electric and Washington Group International,” Brosamle said.

He said MG&E would not charge the university for more than the steam’s base production cost, contrary to another consultant’s assertion that factored into their higher estimated cost of the MG&E plant.

University officials have said that if no plant is constructed, the university could face severe power shortages in 2004, especially after the construction of several new science buildings with high-energy demands for their laboratories.

The West Campus Cogeneration Plant would stand next to the heating plant on Walnut Street and supplement Dane County’s and UW’s heating, air-conditioning and electricity.

The 150-megawatt plant could pump out approximately 150 megawatts of electricity, 20,000 tons of chilled water and 500,000 pounds of steam per hour.

According to former University physical plant director John Harrod, UW-Madison’s share of the funding could reach upwards of $90 million.

Bob Stoffs, community services manager of MG&E, said the power plant would be more efficient than a typical plant because it uses a mechanism of producing power called cogeneration, which produces thermal and electric energy. He said a typical plant draws 35 percent efficiency out of fuel, while a cogeneration plant can extract 70 percent efficiency from fuel.

Cogeneration uses the heat normally wasted from electricity to do other work — in this case, the heat is used to generate steam to heat university buildings.

Cogeneration is common in Europe and is a growing trend in the United States, but has some limitations, Stoffs said. The plant must be in proximity to its recipients, necessitating the plant’s campus location, and the plant must have a large water source, requiring it be positioned near Lake Mendota.

The plant would drain one million gallons of cooling water from Lake Mendota per day, which it would condense into steam.