Dairyland Power is Shutting Down Genoa Power Plant
La Crosse, WI (KROC-AM News) - A large coal-fired power plant in the region is headed for retirement.
La Crosse-based Dairyland Cooperative Power has announced it will be shutting down the 345-megawatt power plant in Genoa, Wisconsin by mid to late 2021. The closure will impact about 80 Dairyland employees.
The electric cooperative says many factors contributed to the decision, including the age of the plant, its capacity, regulatory requirements, fuel supply, and the overall regional market prices for electricity. The Genoa plant went on-line in 1969.
Dairyland Power says it will continue to operate its power transmission facility in Genoa and the dry cask nuclear waste facility that stores spent fuel rods from a small nuclear plant in La Crosse that closed in the late 1980s.
Genoa is a small town along the Mississippi River about 7 miles south of Brownsville.