by jboullion | May 9, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Larry Sandler in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Wisconsin was shut out Monday in its bid for $150 million in federal money to upgrade the Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that 22 projects in 15 states would share $2 billion in federal high-speed rail money that had been rejected by Florida.
Wisconsin was seeking some of that money for train sets, locomotives and a maintenance base for the Hiawatha line. But while LaHood’s announcement listed $268.2 million for five other Midwestern states that had joined Wisconsin in the application, it made no mention of the Badger State.
Officials at the state and federal transportation departments confirmed that no money would be awarded to Wisconsin. The federal agency had previously yanked an $810 million grant to this state after newly elected Gov. Scott Walker refused to use it to extend the Hiawatha from Milwaukee to Madison, a 110-mph stretch that would have been part of a larger plan to connect Chicago to the Twin Cities and other Midwestern destinations with fast, frequent trains.
In a telephone news conference, LaHood did not directly answer a question about whether Monday’s decision was related to Walker’s previous stand, which reversed 20 years of planning by predecessor administrations of both parties. But he repeatedly used the word “reliable” in characterizing the leadership of the states that were selected for the latest round of grants.
“The announcements we’re making today are with the strongest partners in America,” LaHood told reporters. “These are reliable people. These are people (who) have as one of their highest priorities the development of high-speed rail.”
Walker is a Republican, as are the newly elected Florida and Ohio governors who also rejected federally funded rail projects. LaHood is a former GOP congressman serving in Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration. But several of the states that won high-speed rail grants Monday are led by Republican governors, including Indiana, where Walker has cited Gov. Mitch Daniels as a role model.
by jboullion | May 9, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article in the Stevens Point Journal:
ROTHSCHILD — State regulators indicated support of construction plans for a biomass plant in Rothschild on Friday, a major step in a lengthy and often contentious debate over a $255 million project backed by Milwaukee utility We Energies and Domtar Paper.
Two members of the state’s Public Service Commission pushed for and received more concessions from the project’s sponsors, concerned that the utility’s ratepayers still are taking the biggest risk. We Energies and Domtar either can contribute $10 million more toward operating costs or increase the rate Domtar will pay for steam produced by the plant.
The PSC also will have the authority to review future changes to the rate Domtar pays We Energies for steam, which is used in its paper-making process.
The plant is part of We Energies’ effort to meet the state’s renewable energy requirements for utilities by 2015, buoyed by federal tax credits available to facilities that are operational by the end of 2013. We Energies has promised the project will create about 400 construction jobs and 150 jobs in Central Wisconsin for industries supporting the plant, and Domtar argues the change will allow them to compete in an increasingly testy paper industry.
by jboullion | May 9, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in The Journal Times, Racine:
In a lamentable vote last week, state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, led the state’s Joint Finance Committee to vote 12-4 along party lines to do away with recently authorized regional transit authorities in southeastern Wisconsin and four other areas of the state.
It is a boneheaded and short-sighted maneuver that could well ring the death knell for commuter rail linking Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee and Chicago.
Unlike the high-speed rail proposed for Milwaukee to Madison by former Democratic Gov. James Doyle, KRM would connect a corridor of highly populated areas in the southeastern corner of the state. It would give businesses access to willing workers through the region, provide those workers with the means to get to jobs, give residents a car-free alternative to taking in the sights, recreational and entertainment offerings of Chicago and Milwaukee — and it would lessen the reliance on the Interstate highway system.
It was perhaps prophetic that the Vos-led vote last week came as gasoline pump prices roared well past $4 per gallon.
For good measure, the Joint Finance Committee also threw state funding for bike and pedestrian paths under the bus as well, eliminating $5 million in spending over the next two years.
Vos said the transit authorities were unpopular, unelected “abomominations” as he guided the vote for disbandonment.
Unlike during the Gov. Tommy Thompson era, in recent years Republicans have taken a Goldilocks and the Three Bears approach toward mass transit, complaining that plans — whatever plans — were too hot, too cold, too this, too that. The unelected “abomination” criticism from Vos that transit authorities would spend tax money, even though their boards were not elected, feeds into the recent rise in anti-taxing frenzy — including an advisory referendum in Racine County on “new taxes” for transit or rail that was defeated by a large margin.
In fact, Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget would have preserved transit authorities, but required a binding referendum before an authority could levy a tax.
That’s a more reasoned approach . . .
by jboullion | May 6, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
A proposed We Energies power plant at the Domtar Corp. paper mill in Rothschild is still too expensive for the utility’s customers and should be rejected, critics of the plant said Thursday.
Groups that have raised questions or opposed the plant made filings with the state Public Service Commission Thursday, a day before regulators are scheduled to discuss the power company’s bid to build a $255 million power plant that would burn wood.
The filings came two days after We Energies and Domtar revised the financial terms of the deal to raise Domtar Corp.’s financial stake in the project.
State regulators last week raised concerns about the project’s price tag, but gave the utility a chance to revise the financial terms of the deal this week.
The changes announced by Domtar and We Energies weren’t sufficient to address the concerns raised by the PSC, said the Citizens’ Utility Board, a consumer advocacy group.
“It is unacceptable for (We Energies) ratepayers to bear the brunt of the costs and all of the risks for an uneconomical and unnecessary project for which they receive little to no benefits,” wrote Kira Loehr, CUB’s lawyer, in the filing.
by jboullion | May 6, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
We Energies plans to take initial steps toward converting its Milwaukee coal-fired power plant to burn natural gas, the utility’s chairman told shareholders Thursday.
The Milwaukee utility has been under pressure to address air pollution from the power plant located south of downtown in the Menomonee River Valley.
To comply with new federal pollution rules, the utility has been studying whether to convert the plant to natural gas or to add environmental controls that could allow it to continue burning coal.
“We believe we will need to convert the plant from coal to natural gas,” Chairman and Chief Executive Gale Klappa told shareholders at Wisconsin Energy Corp.’s annual meeting at Concordia University Wisconsin in Mequon.
We Energies will file an application with the state Public Service Commission in the second half of this year for an initial project that would be needed for that conversion to take place.
“That first step would be to put in a larger natural gas pipeline that could . . . supply natural gas to that facility,” Klappa said. “That will be a significant project. It will require PSC approval, it will require City of Milwaukee approval, and it will require us to update a 1949 natural gas line that runs through the area.”
Klappa did not announce a timeline for converting the plant from coal to gas. Utility spokesman Brian Manthey said the utility needs to ensure it has the approval and the ability to supply gas to the power plant before it makes a final decision.
“The (Cleaner Valley) coalition encourages We Energies to move as quickly as possible,” said the Rev. Willie Brisco, president of Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope. “People’s lives are impacted by Milwaukee’s dirty air each and every day.”
Built in the late 1960s, the Valley plant is the utility’s only major coal-fired plant in Wisconsin that lacks modern pollution controls. A much smaller coal plant in Wauwatosa provides steam to businesses at the Milwaukee County Grounds.
Environmental groups and a consortium of other groups in the Milwaukee area formed the Cleaner Valley Coalition to urge the utility to clean up the plant. In addition, the Sierra Club and Clean Wisconsin challenged an air pollution permit for Valley, saying it doesn’t go far enough to protect public health.
“We’re very happy to hear that they’re taking a step in the right direction,” said Emily Miota of the Sierra Club. “The biggest concern now is that they move quickly to make this happen.”
by jboullion | May 5, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Pamela Powers in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram:
MENOMONIE – UW-Stout student Max Broton-Anderson takes the Dunn County Express bus nearly every day from Red Cedar Hall to his classes on the lower part of the college campus.
“It’s fast,” said the 19-year-old sophomore majoring in engineering technology. “You don’t freeze. You don’t get wet. You don’t get hot. If they’re going to run it, we might as well use it.”
In January the Dunn County Express began offering a continuous bus circuit around campus and the surrounding area for off-campus students. The busing program is offered by Dunn County Transit, which operates buses in Menomonie and the county.
So far the route has been a big success. Broton-Anderson is among 16,404 riders who have ridden the university bus route since it began. The route averages between 1,500 and 1,800 riders per week.
“The bus is really being used,” Dunn County Transit manager Kent Conklin said. “Students are getting on 50 at a time. We didn’t know what to expect. It’s been a tremendous success.”
Because of the number of riders the transit bought two used 45-passenger, 40-foot buses, the first large transit buses to be operated in the city in 40 years, Conklin said.
by jboullion | May 5, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Pay attention to this number.
$4.39.
That was the price of regular unleaded gasoline at a station on Milwaukee’s south side on Tuesday. It’s a number that’s likely to rise. It’s also a number that Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature are so far ignoring as they put together a budget that does much for roads and highway funding but threatens to gut public transit systems across the state.
On Tuesday, the Legislature’s budget committee took another step backward on transit when it voted to repeal authority for four regional transit authorities created in 2009. One of those would have been responsible for a commuter rail line connecting Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee.
Keep in mind that Walker’s budget also cuts aid to transit by 10%, moves transit aid from the state transportation fund to the general revenue budget and bars municipalities from raising taxes to make up for the loss in aid. By repealing the RTAs, the budget also removes another tool – a cooperative one – that local communities could have used to help them deal with the loss of funding.
The committee also voted to eliminate a $100 million bonding program for capital transit projects in southeastern Wisconsin and to eliminate all state funding – $5 million over two years – for bike and pedestrian paths.
Why does this matter? Several reasons, but let’s talk about just two.
First, there are people without cars who rely on transit to get them to jobs, appointments, shopping and friends. Some can’t afford a vehicle; others prefer not to have one. Having a car should not be a requirement for living in urban areas such as Milwaukee, Madison, Racine and Waukesha. Giving people options that include transit as well as good roads make those areas more attractive for economic development.
Second, as gas prices continue to rise, many commuters are looking for alternatives to driving to their jobs. In a recent informal and unscientific poll by the Editorial Board, a slight majority of respondents said that a $4-per-gallon price for gasoline would be enough to make them change their driving habits.
by jboullion | May 4, 2011 | Uncategorized
From a story on WHOTV.com, Des Moines:
A wind energy plant wants to bring jobs to Iowa
A Maryland-based company is making plans to employ 175 people at a new plant in Iowa City. North American Ductile Iron Company will initially focus on making parts for the wind turbine market.
The $85-million project is subject to state and city review. The company hopes to begin operation by 2013.
by jboullion | May 4, 2011 | Uncategorized
From a story on WHOTV.com, Des Moines:
A wind energy plant wants to bring jobs to Iowa
A Maryland-based company is making plans to employ 175 people at a new plant in Iowa City. North American Ductile Iron Company will initially focus on making parts for the wind turbine market.
The $85-million project is subject to state and city review. The company hopes to begin operation by 2013.
by jboullion | May 4, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Domtar Corp. agreed to boost its financial stake in a proposed biomass power plant, as We Energies and the paper company revised the terms of their deal Tuesday to satisfy regulators’ concerns.
The three-member state Public Service Commission last week raised objections about the cost of the $255 million biomass power plant that We Energies is seeking to build at the Domtar paper mill in Rothschild, just south of Wausau. The plant would burn wood chips and other forms of biomass to produce electricity for the energy grid and steam for the adjacent paper mill.
The PSC, however, said the plant’s price tag was too expensive and was structured in such a way that too much of the cost would be borne by customers of the Milwaukee-based utility. Commissioners directed Domtar and We Energies to revise their proposal.
The filing by the companies Tuesday will be reviewed by the plant’s critics, including the Wisconsin Citizens’ Utility Board. The groups raising concerns about the project have until Thursday to respond to the revised financing plan.
Domtar on Tuesday said it would boost its contribution by $22 million, to $47 million, a move that increases the price of the steam Domtar would buy for the paper mill and reduce the cost for We Energies customers.
Both companies stressed the economic development opportunity from the project, linked to construction and paper mill jobs.
