Governors' Wind Energy Coalition
Wisconsin’s original renewables roll with climate change
Source: By CHRIS HUBBUCH, Associated Press • Posted: Sunday, December 20, 2020
WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. — Decades before the construction of Wisconsin’s first coal-fired generator, an engineer named Magnus Swenson and his partners harnessed the power of the Wisconsin River behind a wall of concrete.
More than a century later, the Kilbourn dam is still churning out electricity, enough to power nearly 5,000 Wisconsin homes last year, one of more than 140 hydroelectric dams that generated more than 4% of Wisconsin’s electricity supply last year — and nearly half of all renewable energy.
“We are the original renewables,” said Amanda Blank, site manager for hydroelectric and gas operations at Alliant Energy, which owns the Kilbourn dam along with the larger Prairie du Sac dam just downriver. “We plan to be here for a long time. We also add a lot to our communities.”