Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch terminated plans for the biofuel boiler at the Charter Street Power Plant on the UW-Madison campus Thursday.
Huebsch said the decision would save taxpayers $100 million.
Although the biofuel boiler will not be constructed, the natural gas component of the plant will go forward.
""The coal fired boilers will be retired by 2012 as planned,"" Huebsch said in a statement. ""We are moving forward with the two natural gas boilers and we will be studying the alternatives for meeting the campus need for steam into the future.""
State Rep. Brett Hulsey, D-Madison, said he opposed the decision to cancel the biofuel boiler from not just an environmental standpoint, but an economic one as well.
""Using natural gas only will also continue to cost Wisconsin residents the $16 billion we ship out of state for natural gas and other fuels, costing the state 400,000 jobs,"" Hulsey said in a statement. ""A better solution is to implement the hybrid gas and biomass boiler to produce home grown energy and jobs.""
Former governor Jim Doyle began breaking ground on the plant in the end of October. Shortly after the election, Gov. Scott Walker expressed his concerns in a letter to Doyle on how effective biofuel use would be, claiming natural gas is cleaner and cheaper.
Walker asked Doyle during his transition period to halt construction on the Charter Street Plant but the Doyle administration did not comply.
