Dairyland Power demolishes G3 plant in Genoa, CEO says modular nuclear facility a possibility for the site

GENOA, Wis. – Dairyland Power Cooperative has taken down the last bits of a coal fired power plant that stood on the site near Genoa for over 50 years. Demolition charges took down the remaining portion of the power generation building and 500 foot smokestack in a series of blasts the shook the entire valley. About 100 people watching from the bluff overlooking the river valley oohed and aahed as the shock wave from the multiple blasts rippled through the crowd.

A portion of Highway 35 and all Mississippi River traffic were closed briefly as a precautionary measure. The Veit company of Rogers, Minnesota is the contractor handling the demolition work and crews will spend the next several months cleaning up the site, pulling out scrap steel for recycling and hauling what is left to the Vernon County Landfill.

Dairyland has been steadily dismantling the facility since 2021 when the company stopped generating power from the location. The company has been moving away from coal to cleaner forms of generation and renewables. Dairyland’s Genoa Station #3 was a coal-fired 345 MW power plant that was brought online in 1969. The plant was one Dairyland’s critical power generating facilities for much of it’s life and employed about 8o people.

At the time the company shut the plant down, then CEO Barbara Nick is quoted as saying “The fact that G-3 is operating at 50 years old is a testament to the dedication of Dairyland’s employees and decades of well-thought-out maintenance initiatives and planning,”

CEO Ridge said the demolition of the G3 plant marks a transition from fossil fuels to more renewables but said there are still coal fired plants in the Dairyland system, and they are still an important part of making the transition to the future. Dairyland still owns and operates two other coal fired plants including the coal-fired John P. Madgett Generating Station in Alma, Wisconsin, a 369-MW plant operating since 1979. Dairyland has no immediate plan to close that facility at this time.

“It’s a day for us to reflect on the great work that our employees and teammates did for 51 years,” said Ridge. “Providing safe reliable and affordable electricity to our members throughout Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois. But it represents a transition. This is the sixth coal-fired plant that we have closed. We have a very strong commitment to reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. But what’s interesting, and one thing I have to note is we still have two coal plants operating and those plants are very important part of our long-term future as we maintain safe, reliable, and affordable electricity as we transition to using more renewables. The reality is for renewables, they sometimes aren’t running when the winds not blowing, when the sun goes down. The plants that come up and keep the lights on affordably are the fossil fuel and nuclear plants in the region. So while this symbolizes the closure of one era, it’s the opening of a new era with more reliance on renewables, but doing it in a safe reliable affordable way backed up by additional resources like fossil fuel and nuclear.”

Ridge said Dairyland has tried to ease the economic impact to the local communities with decommissioning of the Genoa plant.

“So, when we when we shut the plant down we invested a lot of money and the transition of our employees,” said Ridge. “Many, if not all, found work or found retirement, which is great for them. And then additionally for the community, we continued to operate our nuclear spent fuel facility. So, there are employees still on site. And we’re aggressively pursuing other economic development opportunities.”

Ridge said the G3 site would be a good site to locate a new type of nuclear reactor known as a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) and Dairyland is seriously researching that option, but no timeline is set for such a project.

“Yeah, this would be a good site for a small modular reactor or a micro-reactor,” said Ridge. “Those thoughts are all ongoing. Analysis is ongoing and we’re excited about what the future brings and what that would mean for the community, and really carbon free electricity the nuclear brings.”

Ridge said SMR technology has advanced in recent years making it a real possibility for Dairyland.

“That (technology) has come quite a ways,” said Ridge. “We’ve already seen an SMR, Small Modular Reactor, already licensed by the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission). We’ll see more in the coming years. So we think it’s a great opportunity to stay in touch with that as it goes forward. I like to be on the leading edge, not the bleeding edge. So we’d like to see one built somewhere else, and then we’re gonna move forward pretty quickly from our perspective”