Renewable energy on the rise, coal on the decline for power companies, according to Dairyland Power

Using a variety of energy sources continues to be a goal of Dairyland Power.

The La Crosse-based electric cooperative held its annual membership meeting on Wednesday at the La Crosse Center, with Dairyland president Brent Ridge speaking about moving away from coal, toward natural gas and renewable sources.

Ridge supports the use of solar and wind power, but the weather affects how much they can be used. “Over the last two months, we’ve seen more cloudy days than expected, less wind than expected,” said Ridge. He says Dairyland is going to continue to develop renewable sources, calling it a source that’s free “but certainly less predictable” than other fuels.

Ridge told co-op members at the annual meeting that coal was the main fuel for the company’s power plants about 25 years ago. Now, they use a combination of coal, natural gas, and renewable sources, but Ridge predicts coal probably won’t be used much longer, citing an EPA rule “that will cause the closure of coal plants in just a few years.” He says Dairyland now uses three sources about equally–coal, natural gas, and renewable fuels–but predicts the renewable sources will be dominant 10 years from now.

Dairyland used to operate a plant at Genoa which was run on both coal and nuclear power, starting in the 1960’s. The nuclear reactor was shut down in 1987, and the entire Genoa plant was demolished last year.

Ridge says one of Dairyland’s major projects, the Cardinal Hickory Creek power line between Madison and Dubuque, went into operation on schedule late last year.