Town hall meeting set on state-owned heating, power plants in Madison

The state Department of Administration and the University of Wisconsin-Madison are holding a town hall meeting on Thursday, Feb. 21, to help develop the scope for a comprehensive feasibility study to analyze the way the state heats and cools state agency buildings and the UW-Madison campus.

The meeting will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. in the GEF 2 State Office Building, Room G-09, at 101 S. Webster St. in Madison.

Last November, the Department of Administration and UW-Madison entered into agreements with the Department of Natural Resources and the Sierra Club to complete a feasibility study on the Charter Street Heating Plant and other power plants in Madison.

The state-owned power plants include the Charter Street Heating Plant, the Walnut Street Heating Plant, the West Campus Cogeneration Facility and the Capitol Heat & Power Plant. MGE's Blount Street Plant will also be considered in the study. The state-owned facilities mainly provide steam to heat and cool state agency buildings and UW-Madison.

The public is invited to provide input and help develop the scope of the study. The meeting will include a formal presentation, displays regarding different options and an open forum for the public to provide comments. The agenda is as follows:

• 5 p.m., self-guided review of displays;
• 5:45 p.m., informational presentation;
• 6 p.m., open forum;
• 7 p.m., revisit displays;
• 7:45 p.m., wrap-up.

Questions regarding the session should be directed to the Department of Administration at (608) 266-1855 or to UW-Madison at (608) 262-9406.