Madison Gas and Electric (MGE), along with co-owners Alliant Energy Corp. and WEC Energy Group subsidiary Wisconsin Public Service announced plans to retire coal-fired Columbia Energy Center sooner than initially scheduled. 

The early retirement of the 1,100 MW coal-fired center in Dekorra, WI, is part of MGE’s pledge to produce net-zero carbon electricity by 2050, which was made in May 2019.

“MGE announced several years ago it was transitioning away from coal, and this has been a priority since we established our ambitious carbon reduction goals, both in 2015 and our net-zero goal almost two years ago,” said MGE Chairman Jeff Keebler.

The MGE Energy Inc. subsidiary projects it will achieve carbon reductions of 65% by 2030. Since 2017, MGE has put roughly $400 million...