• About MGE

Energy 2015

As a community energy company, Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) has a responsibility to plan and provide a reliable, affordable energy supply that balances the needs and values of our customers. Our Energy 2015 plan delivers a dependable and environmentally responsible energy supply for tomorrow.

Early progress

MGE has met the major goals of its Energy 2015 plan ahead of schedule:

  • Secured energy from new, cleaner coal resources. MGE is part owner of the Elm Road Generating Station in Oak Creek, Wis. This new power plant has state-of-the-art emission controls. MGE receives a total of 100 megawatts (MW) from the plant, which went into full commercial operation January 2011.
  • Blount Generating Station. MGE discontinued coal as a fuel source at its power plant just east of downtown Madison at the end of 2011. The plant now operates on cleaner-burning natural gas.
  • Renewable energy resources. Our original Energy 2015 plan called for increasing wind capacity by five to 10 times and for expanding solar capacity. Through MGE programs, we now have 12 times the wind capacity that we had in 2005. Wind capacity has grown from 11 to 137 MW since 2005, and our solar capacity has grown from 80 to 980 kilowatts since 2007.
  • Increased energy efficiency and conservation. MGE has a proven track record of working with customers to save energy. Since the mid-1980s, our customers have saved more than 100 MW through conservation. Under the Energy 2015 plan, we launched a series of energy conservation workshops called Power Tomorrow to increase customer conservation. We now also offer a number of online tools for residential and business customers to compare energy use and learn how to save.
  • Technology demonstrations. MGE continues to demonstrate and test new technologies. For example, MGE is installing a network of 26 charging stations for electric vehicles across its service territory. We also install different types of solar technologies to learn which are most effective.

Reducing carbon dioxide

Due to the early progress of Energy 2015, MGE expects a significant decrease in its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. MGE projects from 2005 to 2015 a:

  • 21% decrease in total CO2 emissions.
  • 17% decrease in CO2 rates.

The company had originally forecast an 8% decrease in total CO2 emissions and a 10% reduction in CO2 rates by 2015.

For more information

Energy 2015 Overview [214 kB PDF]