Weston Generating Station
# 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. 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 Weston plant. Unit 1 was retired in 2015, while Unit 2 was switched to natural gas.

Between November 2016 and April 2020, the plant consumed on average 196,670 tons of coal per month, or approximately 6,500 tons daily.

## Units

| Unit | Capacity (MW) | Commissioning |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | 60 (nameplate) 59.8 (summer) 60.4 (winter) | 1954 |
| 2 | 81.6 (nameplate) 81.5 (summer) 82.5 (winter) | 1960 |
| 3 | 350.5 (nameplate) 333.1 (summer) 336.3 (winter) | 1981 |
| 4 | 595 (nameplate) 537 (summer) 537 (winter) | 2008 |

## Electricity Production

In 2021, Columbia Energy Center generated 4,767 GWh, approximately 7.6% of the total electric power generated in Wisconsin (62,584 GWh) for that year. The plant had a 2021 annual capacity factor of 50.75%.

Generation (MW-h) of Weston Generating Station :

| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual (Total) |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2001 | 297,762 | 290,911 | 85,476 | 193,123 | 252,182 | 261,996 | 305,717 | 306,394 | 251,056 | 326,714 | 289,105 | 308,822 | 3,169,258 |
| 2002 | 258,753 | 265,214 | 288,181 | 291,317 | 271,133 | 187,606 | 300,717 | 304,954 | 265,132 | 271,051 | 261,525 | 237,005 | 3,202,588 |
| 2003 | 303,803 | 288,459 | 323,537 | 300,405 | 179,679 | 175,037 | 300,127 | 300,175 | 283,777 | 312,480 | 287,812 | 318,808 | 3,374,099 |
| 2004 | 321,940 | 292,343 | 298,091 | 282,538 | 204,553 | 197,803 | 305,358 | 303,237 | 305,941 | 322,007 | 308,465 | 318,971 | 3,461,247 |
| 2005 | 321,248 | 282,783 | 332,162 | 309,781 | 294,337 | 303,120 | 309,226 | 307,259 | 238,149 | 257,252 | 288,289 | 324,617 | 3,568,223 |
| 2006 | 279,711 | 280,380 | 275,444 | 292,284 | 309,846 | 300,413 | 289,361 | 294,324 | 234,947 | 293,887 | 271,565 | 293,360 | 3,415,522 |
| 2007 | 318,045 | 252,006 | 273,785 | 127,557 | 216,955 | 302,042 | 333,060 | 323,189 | 283,801 | 137,690 | 81,349 | 102,526 | 2,752,005 |
| 2008 | 220,229 | 293,320 | 305,904 | 273,132 | 275,442 | 213,364 | 550,314 | 632,574 | 454,969 | 463,006 | 391,844 | 389,679 | 4,463,777 |
| 2009 | 616,634 | 490,879 | 358,312 | 287,284 | 552,343 | 469,652 | 694,298 | 410,874 | 472,510 | 438,026 | 622,742 | 667,109 | 6,080,663 |
| 2010 | 620,895 | 619,573 | 653,475 | 452,645 | 605,900 | 614,973 | 631,520 | 616,699 | 536,567 | 446,281 | 400,222 | 606,572 | 6,805,322 |
| 2011 | 593,679 | 446,690 | 548,707 | 491,307 | 465,753 | 460,855 | 622,897 | 583,530 | 422,129 | 432,831 | 446,238 | 517,114 | 6,031,730 |
| 2012 | 376,170 | 337,763 | 334,409 | 298,095 | 260,525 | 577,384 | 610,553 | 502,764 | 378,085 | 442,863 | 418,381 | 432,627 | 4,969,619 |
| 2013 | 567,949 | 531,496 | 593,101 | 513,014 | 432,033 | 505,748 | 553,781 | 521,803 | 500,792 | 307,204 | 426,017 | 633,144 | 6,086,082 |
| 2014 | 639,057 | 484,449 | 369,030 | 344,055 | 189,328 | 472,005 | 513,605 | 515,520 | 373,732 | 349,600 | 393,042 | 370,052 | 5,013,475 |
| 2015 | 465,608 | 493,389 | 505,775 | 291,086 | 259,339 | 343,160 | 526,141 | 508,589 | 432,888 | 196,732 | 82,613 | 308,315 | 4,413,635 |
| 2016 | 436,700 | 421,215 | 261,864 | 296,184 | 306,403 | 256,090 | 326,160 | 286,730 | 357,051 | 389,694 | 306,950 | 160,711 | 3,805,752 |
| 2017 | 251,517 | 322,618 | 309,688 | 370,074 | 298,877 | 410,675 | 490,048 | 415,673 | 394,701 | 454,698 | 240,849 | 339,992 | 4,299,410 |
| 2018 | 485,204 | 331,841 | 269,895 | 328,883 | 157,233 | 383,160 | 464,672 | 494,217 | 386,278 | 378,342 | 416,168 | 525,243 | 4,621,136 |
| 2019 | 466,962 | 386,350 | 491,544 | 323,301 | 332,037 | 353,328 | 454,107 | 429,509 | 329,435 | 232,056 | 264,122 | 346,266 | 4,409,017 |
| 2020 | 315,759 | 281,180 | 392,146 | 399,664 | 358,899 | 448,163 | 517,322 | 404,962 | 306,624 | 285,086 | 141,057 | 246,418 | 4,097,280 |
| 2021 | 414,024 | 461,947 | 196,119 | 288,826 | 404,081 | 417,938 | 483,719 | 575,778 | 392,163 | 446,985 | 301,412 | 383,852 | 4,766,844 |
| 2022 | 536,449 | 412,570 | 324,267 | 307,421 | 402,564 | 395,610 | 456,521 | 422,598 | 300,466 | 232,890 | | | 3,791,356 |
| 2023 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Sub-notes:

(1) : Table data reflects electrical generation from all fuels (subbituminous coal, refined coal, distillate fuel oil, and natural gas). Monthly natural gas generation represents on average 1.2% of total generation.

(2) : Major fuel switched from subbituminous coal to refined coal in November 2016

