Responding to a United States District Court ruling last November, the University of Wisconsin and the state Department of Administration are holding a town hall meeting Thursday to hear community opinions regarding the future of the Charter Street coal plant and others in the city.
The meeting will be held in room G-09 of the State Office Building at 101 S. Webster St. and will run from 5 to 8 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend and share its input about energy options they believe should be pursued for heating plants in the city.
District Court Judge John Shabaz ruled that the UW-operated Charter Street heating plant, which uses coal, was in violation of the Federal Clean Air Act when it failed to install proper pollution controls during several renovations of the site.
UW has since entered an agreement with the Sierra Club to conduct a feasibility study about alternative energy options at Charter Street and three other plants in the city.
State Building Commission Secretary David Helbach said the university and the state have appropriated $1.2 million to ?look at options to not only meet the lawsuit? requirements, but to go beyond them to find the best options for the community.
?We had identified problems at Charter Street and Capital Heating, but the lawsuit brought it to a head that something has to be done,? Helbach said.
Bruce Nilles, a Midwest representative of the Sierra Club, called the study a ?legitimate step forward.?
According to Nilles, Dane County currently violates federal standards for air particulate matter, and the Madison lakes have fish consumption advisories because of high mercury content. He added coal plants are the biggest contributors to these problems.
Helbach said community input is important because of the project?s high cost. He added the state is curious about how much people are willing to pay for cleaner energy.
According to Helbach, he is looking for creative ideas, and he believes the university community will be able to provide them.
?In the center of the greatest university in the country, we have a power plant,? he said. ?We could use it as a research lab for biofuel research. We could mix the mission of the university with providing energy for the future.?
Helbach said shutting down the Charter Street plant is not an option because it heats and cools all campus buildings. If it only provided electricity, UW could just purchase the electricity from somewhere else, he said.
Nilles said according to the terms of the agreement, UW needs to select an alternative to relying solely on coal by July. He added there will be another town meeting in June before the final decision is made. Right now people have the opportunity to help decide which options will be considered.
?This is one of the most significant decisions our community is going to make about its future,? Nilles said. ?It will shape our environment for decades to come.?
