Alma Station was a

base load The base load (also baseload) is the minimum level of demand on an electrical grid over a span of time, for example, one week. This demand can be met by unvarying power plants, dispatchable generation, or by a collection of smaller intermittent e ...

coal

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

Alma, Wisconsin Alma is a city in and the county seat of Buffalo County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 716 at the 2020 census. The motto for the city of Alma is: "Step into Living History." History Alma was named in commemoration of the Battle ...

. The plant was built and operated by Dairyland Power Cooperative. Upon the completion of the plant's construction in 1947, it was the largest cooperatively owned power station in the world. Alma Station was decommissioned in 2014.

History

Alma Station was a Dairyland Power Cooperative

completed in 1947 in the city of

. Construction on Alma Station began in 1946. Initially planned as a $4.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ) project, the cost exceeded $5 million by the time of the plant's dedication in 1947. Construction of the plant was funded by the

Rural Electrification Administration The United States Rural Utilities Service (RUS) administers programs that provide infrastructure or infrastructure improvements to rural communities. These include water and waste treatment, electric power, and telecommunications services. it is ...

(REA), and a large amount of the land the plant would sit on was donated by the City of Alma. Built as a

power station, the initial plant design had space for six coal-fired boilers. Two 15-

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units, International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), ...

(MW) boiler units were installed by the time the building was completed in October 1947, though the plant was supplying power before the facility was formally dedicated. Building the station led the City of Alma to construct additional housing and a new school for the families of the incoming workers. An additional 15-MW unit was installed in 1951, and a 54-MW unit installed in 1957. Also in 1957, the Dairyland Power Cooperative received an $18.6 million (equivalent to $ million in ) loan from the REA to expand the station and increase the number of boilers, adding an 80-megawatt generation unit as part of the expansion. At the time, the loan was the largest ever issued by the REA. The new unit was put into service in January 1960. At its peak, the plant produced 214 MW of electricity. In 1970,

Wisconsin Attorney General The Attorney General of Wisconsin is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Forty-five individuals have held the office of Attorney General since statehood. The incumbent is Josh Kaul ...

Robert Warren sued the Dairyland Power Cooperative over the operation of Alma Station, saying the plant violated

public nuisance In English criminal law, public nuisance was a common law offence in which the injury, loss, or damage is suffered by the public, in general, rather than an individual, in particular. In Australia In ''Kent v Johnson'' the Supreme Court of the ...

laws due to air pollution from the burning coal and asked that pollution abatement equipment be installed at the plant. The Cooperative was dismissive of the claim, saying that Warren had picked their plant as a scapegoat to build interest in his reelection campaign and questioned why the only cooperatively owned power company in the state was chosen for the suit. Representatives for the Cooperative at the time said that a research study on pollution at the Alma plant was being finalized. Alma Station began decommissioning its generation units in 2011, shelving its three oldest units that year. The plant ceased operations entirely in 2014. The plant's main building was demolished in 2017, and one of its two 700-foot tall smokestacks was demolished in 2018.

References

{{reflist Energy infrastructure completed in 1947 Energy infrastructure completed in 1951 Energy infrastructure completed in 1957 Energy infrastructure completed in 1960 Buildings and structures in Buffalo County, Wisconsin Coal-fired power stations in Wisconsin

History

See also

References