by jboullion | Jan 25, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Sheboygan Press:
If Gov. Scott Walker is all about creating jobs for Wisconsin residents, he will back off his support for new rules on wind farms.
Last year, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, in response to inconsistent siting rules adopted by individual communities, held hearings, reviewed scientific information and heard from health experts in an effort to come up with uniform standards sitting rules.
The PSC said the wind turbines, which generate electricity — and are responsible for hundreds of new jobs in Wisconsin already — must be located 1,250 feet from any residence and about 450 feet from property boundaries.
The PSC siting rules take into account the concerns of homeowners and are based on about 150 reports on medical and safety issues.
But new rules, which Walker backs, would put the setback from a residence at 1,800 feet — a distance that wind farm developers contend would drive them out of business and shut the door to this emerging technology and clean-energy process.
Keith Reopelle, the policy director for Clean Wisconsin, an environmental advocacy group, said the rules Walker is backing will jeopardize nearly a dozen wind farm plans in the works.
by jboullion | Jan 25, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Jake Miller in the Wausau Daily Herald:
A California-based energy company is interested in building a manufacturing plant in the Wausau area, adding about 600 jobs in a part of the economy that was especially hit hard by the recession.
W Solar Group, which will move its headquarters to Dane County this year, has narrowed its search for where to build its plant to several Wisconsin cities. A company spokesman said Wausau has several factors that make it appealing.
“It’s a very good spot as it relates to a supply chain, geography, transportation,” said Evan Zeppos, spokesman for W Solar Group. “It has a well-known reputation for having a good work force, and it’s certainly very high on the quality-of-life scale.”
W Solar has not finalized where it will build the manufacturing plant, and Zeppos declined to provide a list of cities Wausau is up against. Local officials, however, said Eau Claire is Wausau’s biggest competition.
W Solar, founded in 2009 in Chatsworth, Calif., has an efficient technology that lets it produce solar panels on a large scale at a lower cost than its competitors.
If W Solar ultimately selects the Wausau area, the jobs could provide a huge boost to Marathon County’s manufacturing sector, which has lost about 2,500 of its 17,700 jobs since December 2007, according to state data.
by jboullion | Jan 24, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Kari Lydersen in Midwest Energy News:
One of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s first actions in office was to declare the state “Open for Business,” vowing to lure industry and create a quarter-million jobs.
But legislation Walker proposed as part of this initiative could strangle a growing state industry – wind power – with a stringent siting rule likely to make major future development nearly impossible.
Why would a pro-business governor support a plan that wind experts say would likely shoot down 11 proposed projects representing a $1.8 billion investment?
Wind developers and advocates say it is because of the influence of the state’s powerful real estate industry, whose leaders say wind turbines significantly decrease property values and prevent agricultural and open land from being transformed into residential
developments . . . .
Wisconsin Realtors Association chief lobbyist Tom Larson said Realtors were “definitely” the driving force behind the wind siting portion of Walker’s bill. He and other prominent Realtors also lobbied against the Wisconsin Public Service Commission’s new wind siting rule, set to take effect March 1, which created uniform statewide standards, including a setback of 1,250 feet from homes. . . .
“This is more of a land use fight than an energy fight,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin and a member of the state’s wind siting council. “The Realtors are afraid wind generation will slow down the conversion of agricultural land to residential land. They’re trying to drive a stake through the heart of wind development before the next project is permitted.”
by jboullion | Jan 24, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Kari Lydersen in Midwest Energy News:
One of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s first actions in office was to declare the state “Open for Business,” vowing to lure industry and create a quarter-million jobs.
But legislation Walker proposed as part of this initiative could strangle a growing state industry – wind power – with a stringent siting rule likely to make major future development nearly impossible.
Why would a pro-business governor support a plan that wind experts say would likely shoot down 11 proposed projects representing a $1.8 billion investment?
Wind developers and advocates say it is because of the influence of the state’s powerful real estate industry, whose leaders say wind turbines significantly decrease property values and prevent agricultural and open land from being transformed into residential
developments . . . .
Wisconsin Realtors Association chief lobbyist Tom Larson said Realtors were “definitely” the driving force behind the wind siting portion of Walker’s bill. He and other prominent Realtors also lobbied against the Wisconsin Public Service Commission’s new wind siting rule, set to take effect March 1, which created uniform statewide standards, including a setback of 1,250 feet from homes. . . .
“This is more of a land use fight than an energy fight,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin and a member of the state’s wind siting council. “The Realtors are afraid wind generation will slow down the conversion of agricultural land to residential land. They’re trying to drive a stake through the heart of wind development before the next project is permitted.”
by jboullion | Jan 24, 2011 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by The Illinois Wind Energy Association:
(CHICAGO) — Today the Illinois Wind Energy Association (IWEA) invited wind power developers working in Wisconsin to focus their efforts on Illinois, where Governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly have worked to streamline regulations for the wind energy business.
Wind developers have been apprehensive about investing in Wisconsin since Governor Scott Walker proposed legislation that would effectively ban wind development from the Badger State. With these new job-destroying regulations on the table, IWEA is happy to highlight the much more business-friendly climate just to the south.
Recently introduced in the Wisconsin legislature, the War on Wind Initiative would dramatically extend setback distances from wind turbines in the state. If adopted, the bill would mandate a minimum setback requirement of 1,800 feet from neighboring property lines, far exceeding the setback distance from occupied dwellings specified in a rule issued by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.
“Even the strictest county setbacks in Illinois are nowhere near as extreme as what Wisconsin would have if this bill passes,” said IWEA Executive Director Kevin Borgia. “Illinois has no statewide minimum setbacks.”
As Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, said to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel last week, “it is one of the most onerous regulations we have ever seen.”
“In light of Wisconsin’s War on Wind, IWEA invites developers to focus their resources on Illinois,” Borgia said. “Businesses with wind farm proposals in both states are likely to focus their efforts on locations with the most beneficial regulatory climate. If the legislation is adopted, that location will not be Wisconsin.”
by jboullion | Jan 24, 2011 | Uncategorized
In the fall of 2007, Grant County landowners received a survey conducted by The Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.
Question 30 on the survey asked respondents if Grant County jurisdictions should pursue Ethanol Plants, Solar Energy or Wind Energy alternatives as a form of economic development.
Data compiled from those surveys shows overwhelming support for Wind and Solar Energy with marginal support for Ethanol. The proposed White Oak Wind Farm falls within Smelser Township, Cuba City, Hazel Green, Hazel Green Township and Dickeyville.
Grant County should pursue:
|
Ethanol
plants |
Solar
energy |
Wind
energy |
| Strongly agree |
22% |
39% |
48% |
| Agree |
33% |
45% |
43% |
| Disagree |
23% |
5% |
2% |
| Strongly dis. |
9% |
1% |
2% |
| No opinion |
13% |
10% |
6% |
by jboullion | Jan 21, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by in The Chippewa Herald:
Gov. Scott Walker scrapped plans Thursday to convert a power plant to run on natural fuels such as wood chips and paper pellets, a move that could save up to $100 million but drew stern criticism from at least one environmental group.
The decision affects the Charter Street Heating Plant on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Its coal-fired burners will be retired next year and were to be replaced with two boilers that run on natural gas and a third that would burn biomass, state officials said.
However, Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch said only the natural-gas burners will be installed.
“We have decided not to proceed with the biomass boiler in order to save the state taxpayers money,” he said in a statement. The savings would come from avoiding construction costs of about $100 million, he said. It was not clear whether the third planned boiler would be replaced or the two natural gas boilers would produce enough power on their own.
Jeff Plale, an administrator for the state Division of State Facilities, said Walker and Huebsch realized there were cheaper ways to meet the university’s heating needs while still being environmentally friendly.
“Natural gas is a clean source of energy, certainly cleaner than coal,” Plale said. “That plant is going to be a whole lot cleaner than it is today. Couple that with being able to save $100 million during a very difficult budget and I think the people of Wisconsin come out better.”
In 2008, then-Gov. Jim Doyle announced that the plant would switch from coal to biomass in part to settle a Sierra Club lawsuit claiming that the plant violated air-pollution laws. Thursday’s move does not risk reopening the lawsuit because the plant is still moving away from coal.
The decision to walk away from biomass shows a lack of long-term thinking, Sierra Club spokeswoman Jennifer Feyerherm said. She called it another in a string of Walker’s actions that kills jobs and wastes money while missing a chance to develop greener solutions.
“This was a way to keep money local, to keep the investment in Wisconsin,” she said. “While up front it may seem to cost more, it would have kept the money local, created a green infrastructure and created local jobs.”
She said the jobs would include growing and harvesting the biomass, converting it into a form that could burned and transporting it to the plant.
by jboullion | Jan 21, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal on wind turbine setback requirements would kill jobs and hurt the state’s renewable energy portfolio. The Legislature should reject it.
If Gov. Scott Walker is serious about creating jobs in Wisconsin – and we believe he is – he should not turn his back on job-creation opportunities that are available in green industries. Yet he seems to be doing exactly that, a primary example of which is proposed regulation that could effectively kill wind energy production in Wisconsin.
Walker’s proposal would require an 1,800-foot setback for wind turbines from nearby properties. Wind farm developers and supporters say that such a requirement would kill or severely curtail 10 of the 12 wind projects underway or proposed. That means a loss in jobs; it also means a significant reduction in the amount of renewable energy that would be available to the state in coming years.
Given the reality of climate change and likely new regulations that will be needed to mitigate the human factor in climate change, reducing renewable energy alternatives is a very bad idea.
Walker’s proposal also overturns the good work of an advisory committee and the state Public Service Commission that spent the past two years coming up with a less restrictive setback requirement of 1,250 feet for large turbines. As Keith Reopelle of Clean Wisconsin noted in an op-ed on Wednesday, the PSC held six rounds of public comments and received input from all the major stakeholders.
Some of those stakeholders may have been unhappy with the consensus that was reached, but the result was a reasonable compromise after an open process. To throw that all out and replace the PSC rule with the most restrictive statewide setback regulations in the country would be a mistake.
Walker seems to be reacting to a fear that wind turbines lower property values and limit development. But a 2009 study by the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found no evidence “that home prices surrounding wind facilities are consistently, measurably and significantly affected by either the view of wind facilities or the distance of the home to those facilities.”
by jboullion | Jan 20, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Milwaukee is revamping a program aimed at encouraging homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient and will unveil it this spring, Mayor Tom Barrett said.
The city sought a variety of funding alternatives to encourage homeowners to boost the efficiency of their buildings, letting city residents pay for the upgrades over time on their utility bill or their tax bill.
Rebuffed in those efforts, the city will instead apply stimulus funds to help create a revolving loan fund for the projects when it relaunches the ME2, or Milwaukee Energy Efficiency program, this spring, Barrett said during a White House roundtable Tuesday on “greening America’s cities.”
“But to me that still doesn’t get at the core issue,” Barrett said. “The challenge is how do you take that family, or single woman or man, who’s living in that house who’s got financial issues right now. They live in an older home, and how do you convince them that it’s in their best interest to make their home more energy efficient?”
The barriers to increasing investment in energy efficiency are many, despite the payback in lower energy costs, said Joel Rogers, head of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy and a leader in the national Emerald Cities Collaborative aimed at making government and institutional buildings more cost-effective in their energy use.
“The first major barrier is that most people don’t know much about what they can save,” Rogers said.
by jboullion | Jan 20, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the La Crosse Tribune:
Cue the overture to “Gone with the Wind.”
Gov. Scott Walker already has thrown back $810 million in federal funding for high-speed rail — and the jobs and investment attached — to other states, including Illinois.
Now, he wants to make sure Wisconsin blows an opportunity to develop wind energy — development that our neighbors to the west have blown past Wisconsin on.
Denise Bode, CEO of American Wind Energy Association, says the governor’s new regulations for wind energy would imperil a dozen Wisconsin wind farms worth $1.8 billion and 950 full-time jobs.
So, we’re forced to ask once again: When does Wisconsin get some of the 250,000 new jobs that Walker has promised — and when does he intend to stop creating jobs in other states at our expense?
The governor is pushing a regulatory bill that would quadruple the distance that a wind turbine is set back from another property. Opponents say that may kill any current or future wind-turbine operation.
In Walker-speak, that’s known as a job-killer.
The proposed regulations are especially troubling because they could cause problems for an innovative partnership between Gundersen Lutheran and Organic Valley. The two organization plan to split the $11.5 million cost of their project near Organic Valley’s distribution center in Cashton. A spokesman said they hope to order turbines within two weeks and begin generating electricity by November.
Isn’t that the type of entrepreneurial innovation and dynamic partnership that Wisconsin needs to grow the economy — especially with green energy?
