Bush win would seem to benefit We Energies

By Rob Golub

Sunday, November 14, 2004 2:04 AM CST

Environmentalists say opening and operating new coal-burning generators at the Oak Creek Power Plant is likely to be easier under a Bush administration than it would have been in a Kerry administration.

The market seems to agree. Stocks tied to coal have gone up since President Bush was re-elected, according to the Associated Press. We Energies' parent company, Wisconsin Energy Corp., has seen its stock rise back up to around $34 per share, after generally hovering between $30 and $33 for several months.

Environmentalists say the Bush administration is likely to continue a successful pro-utility strategy from its first term, and revive a second strategy that never saw success in the first term.

First, the successful strategy of working through federal rules to help coal-burners will continue, environmentalists said. The advantage of issuing new federal rules or changing existing ones is that you don't have to go to

Congress.

For example, environmentalists say a proposed giant Lake Michigan water sucking machine would be so hard on the environment that We Energies could never build it under the current Clean Water Act. We Energies and its water system may have been saved, however, by new EPA rules issued in recent months. The rules essentially grandfather in old plants and any expansion of an old plant for the eternal use of old environmental standards, environmentalists said.

Bruce Nilles, a Sierra Club attorney, calls such rules changes "stealth attacks."

"I think we will see more of the same, we will see more stealth attacks," he said. "I would foresee that they may try and create some additional subtleties in the rules," agreed Eric Uram, spokesman for the Sierra Club.

Beyond changing federal rules, environmentalists are concerned the Bush administration will return to its Clear Skies strategy. Clear Skies is the bill the Bush administration was never able to see passed in Congress, one that improves air quality, according to the Bush administration. Environmentalists, who also call it the "energy bill," say it could weaken air quality requirements for those who burn coal.

"The energy bill will undoubtedly rear its ugly head," Nilles said. "You may see Clear Skies

resurrected."

Charlie Higley, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board in Madison, also predicted less concern about the environment, though he added he wasn't sure how four more years might affect We Energies plans in Oak Creek.

A We Energies spokesman indicated there may not be much of an effect at all.

"I think it's fair to say that we were going to go forward whoever won the White House," said Thad Nation, spokesman for We

Energies.

"This proposal was originally proposed under the Clinton administration, it was approved under the Bush administration and we would have moved forward under the same plans whether Bush or Kerry had won the election."

We Energies has been granted approval to move forward by the state Public Service Commission in Madison. But ongoing legal disputes and additional permits are remaining hurdles for We Energies to overcome.

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