Brown Co. to build landfill gas-to-energy plant

From an article by Sara Boyod in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

LEDGEVIEW — Construction of a gas-to-energy facility at 3750 Heritage Road could begin as early as September, officials said.

The Town Board approved the request from the county to build the facility Tuesday; it would collect methane gas from the existing landfill and turn it into usable energy.

Officials want construction to be completed in January or February 2009 and for the facility to be ready for operation, said Chuck Larscheid, solid waste director for Brown County.

With a price tag of about $4 million — borrowed from the future landfill cell development fund — the facility will pull gas from the landfill and sell it to Wisconsin Public Service, Larscheid said. Borrowed funds would be paid back in roughly six years before any of those funds would be needed, he said.

"We made an agreement with them so they will purchase the energy we produce," he said, adding that the cost to the Wisconsin Public Service Corp. — a few cents per kilowatt-hour — will vary depending on the time of day.

The estimate is to sell the electricity at about 7 cents for each kilowatt-hour to produce roughly $3 million in net profit over the life of the facility, he said. . . .