In order to continue to provide reliable natural gas and electric service to its customers, Madison Gas and Electric Co. (MGE) reported that it has filed an application with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin that includes replacement power expenses for an extended outage at the Columbia Generating Station.

MGE said the Columbia plant will receive upgrades to improve reliability. The filing also includes technology improvements for the 2002 calendar year and seeks recovery of higher-priced fuel to produce electricity.

Under the application, the utility is proposing a rate change of $12 million, or a 5.8% increase over current electric rates and a 0.7% increase in gas rates. This would result in a monthly increase of $3.24 for a typical residential electric customer and a $0.58 increase for an average residential gas customer.

“Columbia provides a large portion of our customers’ power needs,” said Jeffrey Newman, MGE vice president. “During a plant outage, replacement power comes primarily from new, natural gas-fired plants at much higher costs.”

MGE said Columbia is scheduled to be out of service an extra six weeks for major generator repairs next spring. MGE owns 22% of the facility and receives more than 40% of its base power needs from it.

“This request is limited to very specific issues,” Newman said. “We are committed to supplying reliable power to our customers at the lowest cost possible. We will not compromise our high level of service.”

MGE is a public utility that serves 126,000 electricity customers in Dane County. The company also transports and distributes natural gas to 114,000 customers in seven south-central and western Wisconsin counties.

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