..  Gale E. Kla pa
I 4.11;, ne?gy Chairman enlii Chief Executive Officer

 

231 W. Michigan St.
Milwaukee, WI 53203

Phone 
Fax 414-221-4519

March 31, 2015 E-mail Gale.K appa@

wiscensinenergynom

The Honorable Edward Markey

The Honorable Barbara Boxer

The Honorable Sheldon Whitehouse

US. Senate Environment Public Works Committee
Washington, DC 20510-6175

Dear Senators Markey, Boxer, and Whitehouse:

I am writing in response to your recent request for information on Wisconsin Energy
Corporation?s support of scienti?c research and other efforts related to climate change.
Wisconsin Energy Corporation is the holding company for We Energies, our principal utility
subsidiary. We provide electric service to customers in portions of Wisconsin and Michigan?s
Upper Peninsula. We also serve natural gas customers in Wisconsin and-steam customers in
downtown Milwaukee. I

Below you will ?nd highlights of our support of and contributions to climate change research:

0 Over the past ten years, we have invested nearly $5 million in Climate change research
and development programs through our membership with the Electric Power Research
Institute (EPRI). EPRI conducts research, development and demonstration 
relating to the generation, delivery and use of electricity for the bene?t of the public.
EPRI is an independent, nonpro?t organization that brings together scientists, engineers
and experts from academia and the industry to help address challenges in electricity.
work spans nearly every area of electricity generation, delivery and use,
management and environmental reSponsibility. Through EPRI, we have supported efforts
to investigate the potential to deliver greenhouse gas emissions reductions from avoided
deforestation in the Amazon's Xingu River Basin, as well as a project to explore the
deveIOpment of algal biotechnology for energy production andlcarbon recycling.

0 In 2008-2009, we hosted a carbon capture demonstration project which successfully
captured more than 90% of the carbon dioxide from a 1.7 megawatt (electric) slipstream
from our Pleasant Prairie Power Plant near Kenosha, Wisconsin. This project, a
collaboration with EPRI and Alstom, con?rmed the predictive performance of Alstom?s
patented chilled ammonia carbon capture system at an operating power plant, achieving
key research metrics around hours of operation, ammonia release, C02 removal levels
and C02 purity.

March 31, 2015
Page 

0 Finally, we have received a patent for a process that mineralize's carbon dioxide gas with
by-product lime sources into calcium carbonate (limestone) rock (US. Patent 7,390,444,
?Carbon Dioxide Sequestration in Foamed Controlled Low Strength Materials?). This
process produces a controlled low strength material that can be used or allowed to harden
and then crushed into an aggregate (crushed stone) material. A second patent which uses
lime kiln dust, cement kiln dust or ground blast slag is pending.

If you have any questions, please contact Darnell DeMasters (202662?4340) in our Washington,
DC of?ce. -

Sincerely,

MW {Edge/30v I