SHEBOYGAN, WI (WHBL) – The changing energy environment will be increasingly evident in Sheboygan, where once coal was king, keeping homes warm and energy flowing.
For as long as most can remember, electricity has come from the Edgewater Generating Station where two smokestacks dominate the horizon on the city’s Southeast side. But the coal-fired station is reaching the end of its days. Two units were taken offline in 2019, and the last unit will be retired next year as the utility switches to more environmentally-friendly sources.
60 years ago, giant coal piles on what’s now Sheboygan’s South Pier District supplied not only the power plant, but also heated thousands of homes in the city, and the ghosts of that era can still be seen in some older homes in the form of trap doors that led to the basement coal room. The majority of homes now heat with natural gas.