More trash to French Island incinerator?

There aren’t many power plants in this part of the country that burn garbage to generate electricity. 

The Xcel incinerator on French Island is rare in that regard, and several businesses from outside the area would like to send garbage to that burner. 

Jadd Stilwell, who runs the La Crosse County solid waste office, says potential customers from Chicago and Minneapolis have shown an interest, as they look for ways to keep waste out of landfills.    

The Xcel plant takes in about 75,000 tons of garbage a year to use as fuel. 

The first priority for providing trash goes to five area counties that send their garbage to Xcel.      

The county solid waste policy board is considering those new requests.