Oak Creek Power Plant


Oak Creek Power Plant, also known as South Oak Creek, is a base load, coal- and natural gas-fired, electrical power station located on Lake Michigan in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Oak Creek Power Plant along with Elm Road Generation Station make up the entire Oak Creek Generating Site.
The plant was built for an initial cost of $246 million. It is located on over of land on the border of Milwaukee and Racine counties.
Advanced Air Quality Control Systems were installed in 2012 for $750 million on all four generating units. In 2009, it was listed as the third largest generating station in Wisconsin with a net summer capacity of 1,135 MW. The plant consumes between 6,000 and 6,400 tons of coal daily depending on system demands.
In 2018, the plant was listed as the fifth largest generation station in Wisconsin with an annual generation of 4,767,153 MW-h, behind Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant, , Columbia, and Port Washington Generating Station.

Expansion

In 2005, two 615-megawatt coal-fueled units were constructed just north of the existing Oak Creek facility. Unit 1 began commercial operation on February 2, 2010. with Unit 2 following in 2011.

Units

Electricity Production

Subnotes:
: Table data reflects electrical generation from all fuels. Monthly natural gas generation represents on average 1% of total generation.
: Major fuel switched from subbituminous coal to refined coal in January 2016

Incidents

On February 3, 2009, six contract workers were injured when coal dust ignited in a 65-foot coal dust silo on the power plant site. They had been preparing the structure for repairs when an unknown source ignited coal dust that had accumulated at the top of the silo. All suffered burns.
On October 31, 2011, a bluff area roughly the size of a football field and 200 feet above the level of Lake Michigan eroded, washing mud and debris into Lake Michigan. Close to 100 workers were at the site at the time of the collapse; none were hurt or killed.