It’s hard to tell. Maybe JS reporter Thomas Content did get how ludicrous some of the positive spin We Energies was trying to put on its greenhouse-gas spewing coal plant.

This is my one of my favorite humor points from yesterday’s story:

“We have been very fortunate that we had managed to obtain the permits for this project when we did,” (Project Director Tom) Metcalfe said. “The environmental concerns and issues with greenhouse gases and what have you have made it much more difficult for projects of this type to move forward.”

How wonderful for We that there were no limits on its carbon footprint! Too bad for the rest of us!

Here’s another hidden gem:

Of the project’s total price tag – which is equivalent to, take your pick, three Marquette Interchanges or six Miller Parks – one-third is paying for the environmental controls.

Wow! That kind of social / environmental commitment must really hit We’s bottom line!

Not. Much further down in the story, we get this:

The project will help boost profit for Wisconsin Energy, We Energies’ parent company. That’s because regulators, seeking to help the utility with its big investment, authorized a 12.7% return on equity for the project.

Wisconsin Energy told securities regulators last month that the opening of the plant and resolution of its recent rate case would help its earnings grow 15% to 20% in 2010.

The best part is that the plant is not really needed to meet energy demand, according to the story.

So We Energies will make lots of money with an unneeded coal-fired plant that has a huge carbon footprint. Kind of makes it hard to resent that 7% rate increase, doesn’t it?