by jboullion | Mar 9, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a post on Tom Content’s blog on JSonline:
The stimulus bill and what it could mean for Wisconsin’s energy future will be discussed at several forums during the Renewable Energy Summit on March 27 in Milwaukee.
Gov. Jim Doyle, U.S. Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wausau), a lead author of the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) are all scheduled to address the conference, organizers said. Gary Wolter, who heads MGE Energy Inc. and runs the state Office of Recovery and Reinvestment, has also been invited to speak.
The summit is planned for March 25-27 at the Midwest Airlines Center.
“I thought we were missing the boat if we didn’t focus on the stimulus bill and what’s going to happen,” said Art Harrington of Godfrey & Kahn, a conference coordinator. “We should focus one day on the opportunities created by the stimulus bill on renewable energy, and that morphed into the plenary session on Friday, March 27.”
by jboullion | Mar 9, 2009 | Uncategorized
“An astonishingly wide-ranging film. An informed and heartfelt examination of the tug of war between public health and private interests.” – New York Times
“Lively and engaging…Smartly Done” – Los Angeles Times
The Tomorrow River Chautuaqua presents FLOW, the award-winning documentary that investigates one of the most important political and environmental issues of the 21st century – The World Water Crisis. The movie will be shown on Friday, March 27 at 7:00 in the Lettie W. Jensen Center theater in Amherst, WI. Cost is $5.00. Running time is 84 minutes.
Discussion following the movie will be led by Jo Ellen Seiser, who was Portage county’s first ground water coordinator. Additional people, with expertise in issues relating to water, are being invited to take part in the discussion.
The producer of FLOW, Irena Salina, builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply. Her interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale.
While the film introduces many of the world’s governmental and corporate culprits behind the “water grab,” FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.
by jboullion | Mar 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Incentives to add solar panels on homes and small businesses are higher than they’ve ever been.
That stems both from a tax credit that Congress authorized last year as well as incentives from Focus on Energy and We Energies.
That doesn’t make solar power cheap, but it’s shortening the payback times for folks who are thinking about adding solar panels, said Michael Vickerman, executive director of Renew Wisconsin, a nonprofit group seeking to boost use of solar and wind power across the state.
We Energies of Milwaukee on Wednesday unveiled a new solar electric incentive after the old program basically sold out.
For more than two years, the utility’s incentive permitted customers to sell all of the renewable power generated by their home or business back to the utility at a high electricity price of 22.5 cents a kilowatt-hour. That’s nearly twice the amount We Energies charges to homeowners for electricity.
The new program amounts to an upfront payment to customers who install solar electric systems, said Carl Siegrist, senior renewable energy strategist at We Energies.
“It’s great news,” said Niels Wolter, who runs solar electric programs with the state Focus on Energy Initiative. “Probably the biggest thing is it helps people overcome that first cost, which is a big barrier, rather than paying people more over 10 years for the power.”
Instead of paying money each month to customers who install solar panels, the new incentive is upfront and based on the amount of power a home’s panels would generate during the first year.
The exact amount of the incentive is 75 cents per kilowatt-hour for all the kilowatt-hours generated by a solar system in a year.
by jboullion | Mar 6, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article in The Business Journal:
Alliant Energy Corp. said Thursday that its Iowa utility, Interstate Power and Light Co., has canceled plans to construct the proposed coal-fired Sutherland Generating Station Unit 4 in Marshalltown, Iowa.
The company said in a press release that the decision was based on “current economic and financial climate; increasing environmental, legislative and regulatory uncertainty regarding regulation of future greenhouse gas emissions and the terms placed on the proposed power plant by regulators.”
The decision follows Wisconsin regulators’ denial in December of a proposed 300-megawatt expansion of the Nelson Dewey Generating Station by Wisconsin Power and Light Co., Alliant’s Madison-based utility. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin ruled that the $1.26 billion project was too costly when weighing it against other alternatives such as natural gas generation and the possibility of purchasing power from existing sources.
In a statement, Alliant Energy chairman, president and CEO Bill Harvey said the PSC’s decision and the cancellation of the $1.2 billion-to-$1.3 billion Iowa power plant project “removes the option of adding new coal-based capacity to meet our customers’ future energy needs.”
by jboullion | Mar 2, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Liz Welter in the Marshfield News-Herald:
There’s good news in the federal stimulus bill for homeowners — about $42 billion in energy-related tax credits.
The bill upped the ante on tax credits, from a 10 percent return to 30 percent return, on energy-efficient home improvements. It includes everything from new windows to air conditioners to solar energy systems.
“This is good. I’m glad this has been signed and approved, because one of my goals is to make sure energy and water are being used efficiently and responsibly,” said Jim Bensen, conservation specialist at Marshfield Utilities.
Bensen conducts free home energy audits for any customer of the utility.
“It’s a good way to see where you could save some money,” he said.
Audits usually take about one hour at the home and then several hours to enter the numbers into a computer, analyze the data and prepare a report.
“I’ll go through the report with the person and explain where to start on savings. A lot of this is weatherizing your home. Just one leak, like around your chimney, or the pipe that goes outside to the faucet, can make a different. Add those all up, and it’s a substantial savings,” he said.
It’s not just older homes that need weatherizing, he said.
“I did a home last week built in 2004, and there’s a lot of weatherizing the owner can do to save a lot of money. And a lot of it, you don’t need to hire someone to do,” Bensen said.
Through the state’s Focus on Energy program, Bensen said, there are resources available to residents to learn about the feasibility and possibility of using alternative energy sources. Bensen said he often refers residential, business and farming clients to Focus on Energy for assistance.
Wisconsinites are in a good position to take advantage of these energy-saving incentives, said Kathy Kuntz, director of energy programs at Focus on Energy.
“Our problem isn’t going to be that (Wisconsinites) couldn’t find the appliance or the installer, because we have the infrastructure,” she said.
Not all states have agencies such as Focus on Energy to help guide consumers, she said, and added that the state also has a variety of companies selling and installing solar, wind and geothermal energy technologies.
by jboullion | Mar 2, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the University of Wiscosnin-Green Bay:
GREEN BAY – A grant from Wisconsin Focus on Energy will allow researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Environmental Management and Business Institute the opportunity to evaluate the economic and environmental outcomes of converting marginal agricultural areas into biomass-yielding grasslands for electricity and heat generation in the state.
Starting in July, UW-Green Bay students and professors will use the $164,853 grant to study the multiple benefits of converting non-ideal farmland into sustainable grassland areas that can be used to produce bio-fuels for energy and heat production.
Planting agricultural crops in poorly drained or marginal soil areas may be delayed, prevented or unprofitable for traditional farming. However, these areas may be ideally suited for native, mixed-species grasslands that can withstand harsher conditions, yet still be harvested for bio-fuel production, researchers say.
Targeted plantings of these grasslands between agricultural fields and aquatic systems could also reduce nutrient and sediment runoff into watersheds, thus limiting pollution and improving the health of the state’s valuable water resources.
“Future energy demands will only be met with diverse and environmentally sustainable energy sources,” said Prof. Matt Dornbush, Natural and Applied Sciences. “This project seeks to answer if it is economically and environmentally feasible to use biomass-based energy produced through the growth of native grasslands to help fill those needs.
by jboullion | Feb 28, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Organizers of the annual Renewable Energy Summit next month in Milwaukee have landed a high-profile keynote speaker – outspoken climate scientist James Hansen.
Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, an arm of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was among the first climate scientists to speak out about global warming, warning about the problem in testimony to Congress in 1988.
In recent years, he has become more outspoken about the need to address global warming. In 2006, he criticized his superiors in the Bush administration for efforts to limit his comments to the media about climate change.
Hansen agreed to address the Wisconsin energy event on March 25 after receiving an invitation from George Stone, an instructor of physical science at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Stone introduced Hansen at a Geological Society of America conference last fall.
The involvement of Hansen in the event comes as the Obama and Doyle administrations are considering legislation to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. Organizers of the energy summit say Hansen’s involvement will help raise the profile of an event that has doubled in attendance every year for five years. At least 2,500 people are expected to attend this this year.
Said Stone: “It just elevates the stature of the conference because we have a leading world figure in the field of climate change and he has changed his attention now in the last couple of years from trying to simply convince people of the science of global warming and the inevitability of the climate change that is coming to focusing on mitigation: What we must do and how soon.”
by jboullion | Feb 27, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release posted on Yahoo! Finance:
STURTEVANT, Wis.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–BetaLED is testing two leading forms of lighting control systems with its LEDway streetlights. Eleven LEDway streetlights installed along 92nd Street in Sturtevant, Wis., were recently outfitted with either a power line communication system or wireless radio frequency (RF) system as part of a side-by-side demonstration of lighting control technologies available for LED streetlights. Both lighting control systems are designed to manage each fixture to ultimately reduce operating and energy expenses.
Milwaukee based We Energies is taking part in the evaluation, testing the remote access and monitoring capabilities of each system as well as calculating reduced energy and maintenance costs presented by LED technology compared to existing streetlighting options.
“We look forward to evaluating these promising streetlight technologies will further improve the level of service we provide to our customers,” said Chris Balliet, We Energies program manager/outdoor lighting. “The ultimate goal of the test is to determine if these technologies could be valuable tools in controlling costs and reducing unnecessary light.”
Although the two independent lighting control systems are designed primarily to lower operating costs, they use different technology to realize results.
The power line system communicates over the same wires that deliver power to each fixture to monitor and control streetlights equipped with specially designed hardware and software.
by jboullion | Feb 27, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Susan Troller in The Capital Times (Madison):
Snug Haven Farms’ spinach has been featured on the menu at upscale restaurants like L’Etoile, and this weekend, farmers Judy Hageman and Bill Warner will talk about their success at the 20th annual Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse.
Their class, which focuses on how to grow the dark green veggie in hoop houses, is just one of many planned for the conference, which runs from Thursday, Feb. 26, to Saturday, Feb. 28. The event is expected to draw more than 2,000 people from across the United States and a few foreign countries.
“This conference is the biggest one in the country for organic farmers, and it’s just a great experience, whether it’s your first time or you’ve been a part of it from the beginning,” said Hageman, who grows spinach in Belleville and regularly sells her produce at the Dane County Farmers’ Market. “There is so much hands-on information, and everyone is willing to share what they know. You just have light bulbs going off the whole time you’re there. The exhibits are terrific, and the food is magnificent, too.”
by jboullion | Feb 26, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by WPPI Energy (formerly Wisconsin Public Power, Inc.):
WPPI Energy has established a $10 million revolving loan fund to make zero-interest loans to help its members lead by example in the areas of energy efficiency, conservation and the use of renewable energy.
“Saving energy and increasing our local use of renewable resources is one of the most important investments we can make for the future,” said WPPI Energy President and CEO Roy Thilly. “Increased efficiency will help lower the energy costs for member communities, defer the need for expensive new power plants, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and keep customer bills down in a rising rate environment.”
WPPI Energy’s members include 49 municipalities in Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Iowa, and one Upper Michigan cooperative electric association. The WPPI Energy Member Loan Program is designed to help members implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects on utility and other municipally owned property, thereby lowering operating costs and meeting members’ local energy needs with local renewable resources.
Typical projects will include:
+ Building or equipment efficiency upgrades
+ Meeting U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards for building projects
+ LED street lights and traffic signals
+ Efficient fleet vehicles
+ Photovoltaic solar panel systems
WPPI’s member utilities are in the following communities:
Alger Delta, MI
Algoma
Baraga, MI
Black River Falls
Boscobel
Brodhead
Cedarburg
Columbus
Cuba City
Eagle River
Evansville
Florence
Gladstone, MI
Hartford
Hustisford
Independence, IA
Jefferson
Juneau
Kaukauna
L’Anse, MI
Lake Mills
Lodi
Maquoketa, IA
Menasha
Mount Horeb
Muscoda
Negaunee, MI
New Glarus
New Holstein
New London
New Richmond
Norway, MI
Oconomowoc
Oconto Falls
Plymouth
Prairie du Sac
Reedsburg
Richland Center
River Falls
Slinger
Stoughton
Sturgeon Bay
Sun Prairie
Two Rivers
Waterloo
Waunakee
Waupun
Westby
Whitehall
