by jboullion | Apr 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a story on WXOW-TV:
LA CROSSE, Wisconsin (WXOW) Dairyland Power serves a half a million households in their system.
Currently, more than 90 percent of their energy is produced from coal.
However, officials say Dairyland wants to have 25 percent of their power be produced by sustainable renewables, like wind and solar, by 2025.
Dairyland isn’t the only one looking at making a transition away from coal.
Today, Secretary of State Building Commission David Helbach spoke at UW-L about how Wisconsin is trying to covert its state institutions from coal consumers.
There are 16 heating state plants that heat and cool institutions using some amount of coal.
These heating plants can be found at variety of places from government buildings to college campuses, including UW-La Crosse.
Secretary of State Building Commission David Helbach says, “Coal has about twice the pollutants as natural gas so just by changing the fuel you reduce your emissions by half.”
The state wants to transition the biggest users of coal first, which are not university’s like UW-L.
That means the university will be put on the back burner.
Helbach, “We’d like to do some of the other plants first so this plant may not be until the first round, maybe on the second or third round”
Since Dairlyand’s transition can’t happen over night either, it is taking steps to make coal burning more environmentally friendly, like recycling by it byproducts and installing a scrubber system and bag house to make air safer.
by jboullion | Apr 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a Community Conversation column by Bob Cleaves, president of the Biomass Power Association, in the Sheboygan Press:
Wisconsin is in the midst of a serious debate about the environmental impact of biomass power, and whether increasing their use of clean, renewable biomass for electricity could potentially lead to unintended negative consequences, specifically with respect to forest health and greenhouse gas emissions. The truth, however, is that increasing our use of biomass power will improve forest health in Wisconsin and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.
Biomass power is carbon neutral electricity generated from renewable organic waste that would otherwise be dumped in landfills, openly burned or left as fodder for forest fires.
On average, America’s biomass power industry removes 68.8 million tons of forest waste annually, improving forest health and dramatically reducing the threat of forest fires. This forest waste includes dead debris and brush left to rot on the forest floor. Clearing this debris is a part of regular forest maintenance and is frequently done by state forest services in the form of open burns.
By using this waste to generate electricity, the biomass power industry is preventing the need for open burns and significantly reducing the risk and spread of forest fires. Waste byproducts from other industries and organic waste from the forest floor continue to be the only economically viable fuel sources for biomass power.
Fuel providers to the biomass power industry do not harvest wood solely for the purpose of generating electricity — forests are simply far too valuable.
by jboullion | Apr 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
The turbine will serve the Green Leaf Inn in Walworth County.
by jboullion | Apr 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a story on WXOW News 19, La Crosse:
Matching funds boost total to $106,374
MADISON – Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman today announced a Wisconsin Industry Partnership training grant of $53,105 to help meet the skilled workforce needs of an expanding food resource and agribusiness sector in western Wisconsin.
DWD’s regional partner, the Western Wisconsin Workforce Development Board, and 20 employers in the Food Resource and Agribusiness Network (FRAN) will provide $53,269 in matching funds for a project total of $106,374.
“These resources demonstrate how by working together, we can meet the needs of employers and prepare workers for jobs of tomorrow, resulting in a stronger Wisconsin economy,” DWD Secretary Roberta Gassman said. “One of the region’s main economic strengths is its agriculture and food processing industry. It is one reason why Wisconsin is a leading state in organic farming. The grant will help the food and agribusiness sector grow and create more jobs.”
One FRAN employer includes Organic Valley of La Farge, the largest organic farm cooperative in the country. For over two decades, the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service has held its annual convention in La Crosse. Sales of organic products total nearly $133 million annually in Wisconsin.
Another FRAN partner is Kwik Trip, which is doubling the size of its bakery, a $30 million project expected to add more than 100 jobs. Last year, the western Wisconsin region’s food resource and agribusiness sector had 3,374 jobs, and it is projected to add jobs in coming years.
by jboullion | Apr 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin:
MADISON – The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) is seeking public comments for a biomass-fired power plant project proposed by Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCO) in Rothschild.
In March 2010, WEPCO filed an application with the PSC for permission to build a 50-megawatt, woody biomass-fired, cogeneration power plant on the Domtar Corporation paper mill property. This newly proposed unit would require about 500,000 tons of biomass fuel per year. It is expected that the fuel would largely be sourced from within a 75-mile or possibly a 100-mile radius of the plant.
Comments on the proposed project will be accepted until June 1, 2010. The comments are considered when staff is analyzing the proposal. Hearings to take testimony from the public regarding the project are expected to be held later this year. . . .
To comment on the proposed project, visit the PSC’s website at http://psc.wi.gov, click on the Public Comments button and choose We Energies (WEPCO) Rothschild Biomass Cogen Project. For documents associated with the case, visit the PSC’s website at http://psc.wi.gov.
by jboullion | Apr 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in The Journal Times (Racine):
Let us count the ways in which this Legislature has failed in its duty. We do not speak of any particular issue or any particular position which the Legislature took, because the truth is that it took few.
There were some good results from this session, such as the law which formalized a transportation authority to make progress on KRM commuter rail. But there is much that didn’t move — bills on regional transit, election reforms, and energy and jobs. We do not advocate for every clause of every one of those bills. We decry the lack of action. It is true that one function of a legislature is to let bad ideas expire quietly, but the overarching issues of transit and jobs and energy must not fail. They must be dealt with in some manner.
The Democratic leadership bears a large portion of the blame, for many major bills did not come to the floor until the closing days of the session, leaving members little time to digest, discuss and amend. But Republicans must also be held responsible for an amazing rigidity and intransigence that produced few constructive suggestions or compromises.
Mordecai Lee, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political science professor, labeled the Legislature’s inaction an example of what is wrong with modern lawmaking. That presumes the goal is to make laws or decisions.
by jboullion | Apr 27, 2010 | Uncategorized
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2010
MORE INFORMATION
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
Renewable Energy Not Responsible for MGE Rate Increase
Higher costs associated with fossil fuel generation are driving Madison Gas & Electric’s costs higher, according to testimony submitted by company witnesses. The utility filed an application last week with the Public Service Commission (PSC) to collect an additional $32.2 million through a 9% increase in electric rates starting January 2011.
The bulk of the rate increase can be attributed to expenses associated with burning coal to generate electricity. A 22% owner of the 1,020-megawatt (MW) Columbia Generating Station near Portage, Madison Gas & Electric (MGE) and the owner plant owners plan to retrofit the 35-year-old facility to reduce airborne emissions. The cost of Columbia’s environmental retrofit is expected to total $640 million, of which MGE’s share is about $140 million.
MGE also owns an 8% share of the state’s newest coal-fired station, the 1,230-MW Elm Road Generating Station located in Oak Creek. A portion of the proposed rate hike would cover lease payments and other expenses at that plant.
MGE’s application does not attribute any portion of its proposed rate hike to renewable energy sources. However, MGE plans to increase the premium associated with its voluntary Green Power Tomorrow program from 1.25 cents per kilowatt-hour to 2 cents. RENEW estimates that the premium hike will collect more than $1 million in 2011 from the approximately 10,000 customers participating in the program.
According to the utility’s web site, 10% of MGE’s electric customers purchase some or all of their electricity from renewable resources. Moreover, Green Power Tomorrow has the second highest participation rate of all investor-owned utilities in the country according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Not surprisingly, MGE anticipates subscribership in Green Power Tomorrow to decrease if the PSC approves the higher premium. Currently, the program accounts for about 5% of total electric sales. Program subscribers include the City of Madison, State of Wisconsin, Dane County Regional Airport, Madison West High School, Goodman Community Center and Home Savings Bank.
According to MGE, sinking fossil fuel prices have widened the difference between wholesale power costs and the cost of supplying customers with renewable energy. However, it is worth remembering that the cost of supplying power from MGE’s renewable energy assets, such as its Rosiere installation in Kewaunee County and Top of Iowa project, did not increase last year and will not increase in the foreseeable future.
“Even though the cost of MGE’s windpower supplies is not going up, Green Power Tomorrow customers will take a double hit if the PSC approves this rate increase and request for higher premiums,” said RENEW Wisconsin executive Director Michael Vickerman. “It’s a ‘heads-I-win-tails-you-lose’ proposition that will wind up rewarding customers who drop out of the renewable energy program because coal is cheaper.”
“It would be short-sighted to penalize renewable energy purchasers just because fossil fuel prices are in a temporary slump,” Vickerman said. “But if MGE is allowed to institute this penalty at the same time it imposes the cost of cleaning up an older coal-fired generator on all of its customers, including its Green Power Tomorrow subscribers, it would have a profoundly negative impact on the renewable energy marketplace going forward.”
“This is the wrong time to be throwing up barriers to renewable energy development. We at RENEW will fight proposals that reward fossil fuel use and penalize renewable energy,” Vickerman added.
END
RENEW Wisconsin (
www.renewwisconsin.org) is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives.
by jboullion | Apr 27, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Robert Imrie in the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune:
ROTHSCHILD — The Wisconsin Paper Council announced Monday that it will support a planned $255 million wood-burning power plant at a Rothschild paper mill.
“We are happy to join in and give it a thumbs up,” WPC Vice President Earl Gustafson said in a telephone interview from Appleton. “From what we have seen so far, it looks like a good plan.”
The Paper Council, which represents 20 paper mills including Domtar and dozens of other suppliers of goods and services to the industry, has asked to participate in state regulatory proceedings on the project.
We Energies has applied to the state Public Service Commission to build Wisconsin’s first biomass power plant on the grounds of the Domtar paper mill along Business Highway 51. A decision is expected by the end of the year, and neighbors of the mill are seeking to stop the project because of concerns about noise, traffic, aesthetics and pollution.
In seeking “intervener status” in the case, the Paper Council told the PSC that “supply and demand for wood fiber” used to make paper products could be affected if We Energies gets approval to build the plant.
Gustafson said Monday the plant’s plan to burn only waste wood, including forest residue and wood shavings, should eliminate most of the Paper Council’s concerns.
by jboullion | Apr 27, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
State programs receive $20 million to help owners retrofit homes, businesses
Milwaukee, Racine and Madison will launch or expand programs to help homeowners and businesses retrofit buildings to cut energy use. The programs are part of a $20 million initiative funded by the federal stimulus package.
The three cities were partners in a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy to Madison-based Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp. and announced by Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
The money will be used to set up or expand programs that lower the cost of making energy-saving changes in homes and businesses.
The Wisconsin project was one of 25 nationwide that won more than $450 million in total funding. The Energy Department received applications for more than $3.5 billion.
The state had sought $65 million through the federal “retrofit ramp-up” program. The goal: bring down the cost of energy-saving home improvements such as air sealing, insulation and other initiatives offered by the state Focus on Energy program.
Milwaukee recently launched a solar-financing program, and Racine has started an energy-efficiency retrofit program that will expand with the new funding.
“This initiative will help overcome the barriers to making energy efficiency easy and accessible to all – inconvenience, lack of information and lack of financing,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement. “Block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, we will make our communities more energy efficient and help families save money. At the same time, we’ll create thousands of jobs and strengthen our economy.”
by jboullion | Apr 27, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Jeff Holmquist in the New Richmond News:
A proposal to construct a wind turbine network in the Town of Forest, east of New Richmond, is picking up steam.
A proposal to construct a wind turbine network in the Town of Forest, east of New Richmond, is picking up steam.
The project is being promoted by Emerging Energies of Wisconsin LLC, a Hubertus company that is involved in several wind farm projects across the region.
Emerging Energies has been studying wind speeds in the St. Croix County township for two years.
According to Bill Rakocy, co-founder and principal of Emerging Energies, the Forest area is “looking very favorable” as a site for large wind turbines.
The company’s research shows that average wind speeds are about 16 to 17 miles per hour, which is sufficient to turn a large turbine and thus generate electricity.
As the state and federal governments begin to encourage development of alternative energy sources, Rakocy said his organization is poised to make a difference.
Among current available clean energy sources, Rakocy claims, wind power is the best for Wisconsin.
