Those opposed to the plan for a new west-campus power plant have long complained that contributions from Madison Gas & Electric to Chuck Chvala?s campaign coffers smell like a rat, and they further complain that there hasn?t been enough public input.

Unfortunately, the ?smells like a rat? argument can be applied to just about any legislation or state spending that has passed in recent memory. To kill this project based on these allegations of shady dealing alone would ignore the fact that the university will run out of hot air by 2004 (literally, not figuratively). As warmer months approach, it should be noted that cool water for air conditioning will be gone, too.

Gov. Doyle seems to have found some merit in the complaint that further public input is needed, since he has now delayed the project for just that reason. Still, if the public hearing before spring break is the kind of input the governor hopes to receive, then the overall project should go live, even after further public scrutiny.

At the forum, a diverse group of interests testified in favor of the natural-gas ?cogeneration? facility to be developed jointly by MG&E and the university. Environmental groups, labor and union leaders, business leaders, community activists and students all testified in favor of the facility.

Even an environmentalist who primarily lobbies against new power plant proposals in Wisconsin said his organization supported the university?s proposal as one of the cleanest and most efficient power plants in the state.

His words, however, did not deter local WisPIRGers from expressing their disgust for electricity in any non-renewable form. Their calls for conservation should not go unheard; conservation is and should continue to be a top priority for our university and community. However, demand due to the university?s expansion and increased residential and economic growth in our city will outstrip any savings created by the most aggressive conservation strategies.

Many Regent-neighborhood residents also expressed concerns over the environmental and aesthetic impact the plant will have, but they also leave the university and MG&E with no alternative. Natural gas may not be a perfect fuel, but without this plant, the city will still need to bring power in on long and expensive transmission lines, quite possibly from a source much dirtier and less efficient than the proposed facility.

Perhaps the most interesting words of caution came from a group of engineering graduate students. Rather than the usual rhetoric, the students presented a comprehensive analysis of the price the university would pay for steam under the proposed financing structure. Forecasting such future costs is a complex task involving assumptions that may not prove true, but their report does indicate that the university should be getting a better deal on its steam considering the amount UW would contribute to the capital costs of the project.

If only all public scrutiny were as thorough as that of these engineers, perhaps a truly improved project could emerge a few months from now. In that spirit, the university should use Doyle?s delay to further investigate the investment and pricing structures involved, and MG&E should continue to comprehensively deal with potential environmental impacts of the plant.

With the need for power in Madison and the need for heating and cooling at the university reaching a critical point, it is important that the power plant stay on the path toward completion.