Weston Generating Station


The Weston Generating Station, also known as the Weston Power Plant, is a base load, coal fired, electrical power station located in the villages of Rothschild and Kronenwetter in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. In 2009, it was listed as the fifth largest generating station in Wisconsin, with a net summer capacity of 1,076 MW. It is owned by Wisconsin Public Service, a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group.
This plant is connected to the power grid via numerous 115 kV and 345 kV lines, owned by American Transmission Company. In February 2008 the Arrowhead-Weston 345,000 volt transmission line was completed allowing more power to be transmitted between Duluth, Minnesota, The Stone Lake Substation, and the Gardener Park Substation, near the Weston plant. Also, and additional 345,000 volt transmission line was completed between the Gardener Park Substation and the Highway 22 Substation, 5 miles southwest of Shawano. An existing line also provides power to the Rocky Run substation west of Stevens Point, Allowing High Voltage transmission of electricity across Wisconsin.
In 1954, Weston 1 began operations as the first unit of the Weston Plant. Six years later in 1960, Weston 2 began operations at the Weston Power Plant, becoming the second coal fired unit on site. Later, in 1981, Weston 3 was commissioned as the third, much larger, more efficient coal fired unit, and continues to operate today. In 2008, Weston 4 began operating as the plants largest, cleanest unit, and continues to operate as Weston's dominant unit today. Unit 1 was retired in 2015, while Unit 2 was switched to natural gas. In 2023, Weston 2 ceased operations permanently. As of 2024, Weston units 1 and 2 have been fully demolished.
In 2022, work began on a new natural gas fired RICE generating facility on the Weston Power Plant Site, and was commissioned in 2023. The new RICE facility was built as a peaking facility, providing power in high demand periods, and instances when renewable energy is unavailable. Weston's RICE generating station includes 7 modern, efficient gas fired engines, with a nameplate capacity of 128 MW total. The Rice Facilities ownership is split 50/50 between WEC energy group subsidiaries WPS and We Energies.
Between November 2016 and April 2020, the plant consumed on average 196,670 tons of coal per month, or approximately 6,500 tons daily.

Electricity Production

In 2021, the Weston Generating Station generated 4,767 GWh, approximately 7.6% of the total electric power generated in Wisconsin for that year. The plant had a 2021 annual capacity factor of 50.75%.
YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual
2001297,762290,91185,476193,123252,182261,996305,717306,394251,056326,714289,105308,8223,169,258
2002258,753265,214288,181291,317271,133187,606300,717304,954265,132271,051261,525237,0053,202,588
2003303,803288,459323,537300,405179,679175,037300,127300,175283,777312,480287,812318,8083,374,099
2004321,940292,343298,091282,538204,553197,803305,358303,237305,941322,007308,465318,9713,461,247
2005321,248282,783332,162309,781294,337303,120309,226307,259238,149257,252288,289324,6173,568,223
2006279,711280,380275,444292,284309,846300,413289,361294,324234,947293,887271,565293,3603,415,522
2007318,045252,006273,785127,557216,955302,042333,060323,189283,801137,69081,349102,5262,752,005
2008220,229293,320305,904273,132275,442213,364550,314632,574454,969463,006391,844389,6794,463,777
2009616,634490,879358,312287,284552,343469,652694,298410,874472,510438,026622,742667,1096,080,663
2010620,895619,573653,475452,645605,900614,973631,520616,699536,567446,281400,222606,5726,805,322
2011593,679446,690548,707491,307465,753460,855622,897583,530422,129432,831446,238517,1146,031,730
2012376,170337,763334,409298,095260,525577,384610,553502,764378,085442,863418,381432,6274,969,619
2013567,949531,496593,101513,014432,033505,748553,781521,803500,792307,204426,017633,1446,086,082
2014639,057484,449369,030344,055189,328472,005513,605515,520373,732349,600393,042370,0525,013,475
2015465,608493,389505,775291,086259,339343,160526,141508,589432,888196,73282,613308,3154,413,635
2016436,700421,215261,864296,184306,403256,090326,160286,730357,051389,694306,950160,7113,805,752
2017251,517322,618309,688370,074298,877410,675490,048415,673394,701454,698240,849339,9924,299,410
2018485,204331,841269,895328,883157,233383,160464,672494,217386,278378,342416,168525,2434,621,136
2019466,962386,350491,544323,301332,037353,328454,107429,509329,435232,056264,122346,2664,409,017
2020315,759281,180392,146399,664358,899448,163517,322404,962306,624285,086141,057246,4184,097,280
2021414,024461,947196,119288,826404,081417,938483,719575,778392,163446,985301,412383,8524,766,844
2022536,449412,570324,267307,421402,564395,610456,521422,598300,466232,8903,791,356
2023

Sub-notes:
: Table data reflects electrical generation from all fuels. Monthly natural gas generation represents on average 1.2% of total generation.
: Major fuel switched from subbituminous coal to refined coal in November 2016