by Tyler Huebner | Jan 7, 2020 | Renewables, Solar, Utilities
Our goal is to streamline the process for renewable energy installations and utility reviews.
Over the past two years, RENEW Wisconsin has been actively working as a member of the Wisconsin Distributed Resources Collaborative (WIDRC) to modernize and improve the necessary forms for applying to install a new distributed generation (DG) system in Wisconsin.
We are excited to help spread the word that as of January 1, 2020, the new forms are available and recommended for use!
These forms represent one of the first formal steps in the process of getting approval to install a new distributed generation system in Wisconsin. Distributed generation systems include solar electric (photovoltaic), small wind, battery energy storage, biogas or biomass electric generators, and/or other technologies that fall under Wisconsin Administrative Code Chapter PSC 119.
Access the New Wisconsin DG Application Forms
Distributed generation installers must complete these forms and submit them to their local electric provider to start the process of obtaining the ability to “interconnect” with the local electricity grid.
You can download the new forms here. See the right-hand column “New Wisconsin Interconnection Forms” for the links to each form.
These DG application forms replace the 6027 and 6028 forms and consolidate the information needed into one “base” form, the Wisconsin Standard Distributed Generation Application Form. Then, installers will fill out a more streamlined technology-specific form to provide the information on which type of distributed generation system(s) will be installed.
The forms are fillable in PDF and can be digitally saved to speed up the process. In addition, the forms now clarify that each size category for DG systems is based on AC electricity ratings.
Installers should continue to use the same 6029 (20 kilowatts and under) and 6030 (above 20 kilowatts) Interconnection Agreement forms when the system is ready to be interconnected to the utility.
Reducing Solar “Soft Costs”
Improving these forms is one of many activities we are undertaking to reduce the “soft costs” of installing solar and DG systems in Wisconsin. In particular for solar, where approximately 1,000 systems are now being installed annually in Wisconsin, we’re looking to save time in the permitting, inspection, and interconnection processes. Time saved in each of those processes will add up quickly when installers are doing it one thousand times each year!
To make this happen, Jodi Jean Amble, our Communications & Events Director, spent a lot of hours designing and constructing these new forms to be very user-friendly. We are hopeful these forms will make the DG application process a little bit easier for our members and all the companies that need to use them.
To learn more about this process and update, please check out this letter that was provided to Wisconsin electric utilities and DG installation firms.
by Tyler Huebner | Dec 19, 2019 | Public Service Commission, Renewables, Solar, Utilities, Utility Scale
Today, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved the Point Beach Solar Farm project!
Point Beach will be a 100 megawatt solar farm, and will supply electricity to WPPI Energy. WPPI is a wholesale energy provider for 41 municipal utilities in Wisconsin plus 10 more across Michigan and Iowa. The developer is NextEra Energy Resources, one of RENEW Wisconsin’s newest Business Members.
Almost three years ago, WPPI Energy made a splash by announcing the results of a request for renewable power proposals. At the time, wind energy was expected to be the winner of that competition. But this solar farm proposal was selected, foreshadowing how cost-effective solar power was becoming in Wisconsin.
Since then, other major power suppliers have followed WPPI Energy’s lead. In April 2019, the PSC approved the Badger Hollow and Two Creeks Solar Farms. Along with the 49.9 megawatt Richland County Solar Farms which was approved at the County level, these projects marked the first utility-scale solar approvals in Wisconsin.
This Point Beach Solar Farm will be placed on ground right around the existing Point Beach Nuclear Energy plant. It will also be located next to the Two Creeks Solar Farm now in construction, with the two projects combining to provide 249 megawatts of solar capacity in Manitowoc County.
With today’s PSC approval in hand, construction will begin next year and it should come online in 2021. It is expected to provide enough energy to serve more than 23,000 people.
Congratulations to NextEra Energy Resources and WPPI Energy on this project approval!
by Sam Dunaiski | Dec 16, 2019 | Community, Local Initiatives, Programs, RENEW Wisconsin, Solar, Solar for Good
RENEW Wisconsin’s Solar for Good program will issue nearly $140,000 worth of solar panels to Wisconsin nonprofits as part of their fall 2019 funding cycle. These grants will go to 13 organizations across the state that together will install nearly 600 kilowatts of clean, renewable electricity. When completed, these solar projects will lead to over $1.2 million of solar investment in Wisconsin.
The following organizations have been offered Solar for Good grants to install new solar electric systems:
CAP Services, poverty alleviation, Stevens Point
Camp Amnicon, outdoor retreat and spiritual worship, South Range
Menīkānaehkem, Native American educational organization, Gresham
Habitat for Humanity – La Crosse Area, affordable housing provider, La Crosse
Jackson County Animal Shelter, safe haven for stray animals, Black River Falls
Heartland Housing, affordable housing provider, Madison
First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee, house of worship, Milwaukee
Boys & Girls Club of Greater La Crosse, youth education, La Crosse
Bethel Lutheran Church, house of worship, Madison
Movin’ Out, alternative housing provider, Madison
Zwingli United Church of Christ, house of worship, Verona
Kathy’s House, alternative housing provider, Wauwatosa
One organization has asked to remain anonymous at this time.
This round of Solar for Good funding features a diverse group of awardees from across Wisconsin. The Boys and Girls Club of Greater La Crosse will use their solar installation to help educate members on renewable electricity and energy efficiency for their recently-renovated facility. Over 200 solar panels will be installed at Kathy’s House, a hospital guest-house in Wauwatosa. And the Indigenous-led organization Menīkānaehkem, will install solar to power several tiny homes being constructed on the Menominee Indian Reservation to house the community’s homeless population.
“We decided to go solar to reduce our energy bills and to focus more of our resources on programming,” said Guy Reiter of Menīkānaehkem. “We plan to use the array as a training center for community members interested in pursuing a career in solar. Thanks to the Solar for Good grant, we are moving closer to our goal of making the Menominee community energy-sovereign as a way to create jobs, restore hope, reduce carbon pollution, and mitigate climate change.”
This marks Solar for Good’s 5th funding cycle and the second-largest to date. Including the fall 2019 funding cycle, the program’s impact will total 74 Wisconsin nonprofits installing 88 new solar arrays throughout the state. The program will add 3.25 megawatts of clean, renewable power to Wisconsin’s electric mix, enough to power approximately 650 homes. In total, these 88 solar arrays will spur over $7 million in investments in renewable electricity.
About Solar for Good
RENEW Wisconsin’s Solar for Good initiative fosters the expansion of solar power among mission-based nonprofits and houses of worship in Wisconsin. Through a generous partnership with Couillard Solar Foundation, RENEW Wisconsin awards solar panels to nonprofit organizations, helping them switch to clean, renewable, solar energy.
by Tyler Huebner | Nov 1, 2019 | Renewables, Solar, Utilities
Yesterday, Alliant Energy’s Wisconsin Power & Light utility company announced plans to add 1,000 megawatts of solar power by 2023 to provide more clean, renewable energy to their Wisconsin customers.
By our analysis, this commitment to solar power would equate to:
- About 2.7% of Wisconsin’s entire electricity consumption
- Enough electricity to provide the annual needs of about 250,000 Wisconsin residential electric customers
- An estimated $5,000,000 annually in land leases paid to landowners who would lease their land to the solar projects
- $4,000,000 annually provided across the local townships and county governments where the projects are located (if in Wisconsin), allocated through the state’s utility shared revenue formula
- Create about 1,600 jobs during construction
- Currently Wisconsin uses about 9,200,000 acres as farmland and has 34,700,000 total acres of land. The approximately 7,000 acres of solar would sit on just 0.076% of Wisconsin’s farmland and 0.020% of Wisconsin’s total land.
- With appropriate grassland and pollinator-friendly practices, the land under these solar arrays can provide numerous benefits by regenerating soil, supporting pollinators like bees and butterflies, and removing carbon from the air and burying it in the soil.
Tyler Huebner, RENEW Wisconsin’s Executive Director, issued the following statement: “This is another important announcement signifying solar power’s time has come in Wisconsin. The costs for solar power have declined about 80% in the past decade, making solar a cost-effective source of electricity for Wisconsin customers.”
Huebner continued: “In addition to utility-scale solar development, RENEW Wisconsin and our members know that solar on homes, buildings, and in our communities also provide tremendous benefits and we look forward to working with Alliant and other utilities to ensure distributed generation and other renewable resources have a fair and equal shot, and receive fair and equal treatment, at providing their benefits as the state continues to shift towards more homegrown, healthy, and smart renewable energy.”
Alliant also announced they will build the first of their “community solar” projects, a program previously approved by the Public Service Commission, in Fond du Lac.
For context, Wisconsin currently has approximately 130 megawatts of solar. In April 2019, approximately 500 megawatts of solar in Wisconsin were approved (450 megawatts were approved by the Public Service Commission and nearly 50 megawatts were approved by the Richland County Board).
by Tyler Huebner | Sep 30, 2019 | Community, Electric Vehicles, Events, Geothermal, Hydroelectric, RENEW Wisconsin, Renewables, Solar, Wind
On Saturday, September 14th, our 7th Annual “Ride with RENEW” bike ride, held in the Fox Cities this year, was a huge success!
We started the morning at Prairie Hill Park in Grand Chute with 40 determined bike riders and 12 wonderful young ladies from the Girl Scouts of the Northwest Great Lakes! The State Representative for the area, Amanda Stuck, welcomed our riders by talking about the importance of energy, and how easy it has become to take advantage of clean energy sources.
Our bike riders and Girl Scouts then set out for the Bubolz Nature Center where we explored their solar panels and microgrid, built and operated by Faith Technologies, who walked us through this one-of-a-kind facility in Wisconsin. The microgrid includes a lithium battery, a hydrogen fuel cell, and a generator, and the facility runs off the solar panels and renewable storage most of the time.
Next we biked 10 miles to Evergreen Credit Union which has become a regional leader in sustainability. With solar panels covering its roof, Roni Kasperek of Evergreen described the credit union’s migration to becoming a clean energy leader and how sustainability is a core value of the organization.
We turned Schildt Park into a clean energy mecca at lunch! Featuring pizza from Glass Nickel Pizza, we were fortunate to have the Ripon Lego League join us as they collected data from our bike riders to help them with their Lego challenge of designing a sustainable community! Our riders engaged in the Lego League’s survey, created to help the kids better understand bikers’ safety needs and how a city could better support bicycling. The Lego League kids did a great job helping to serve lunch and engage with our bikers!
In addition, we had an electric vehicle exposition featuring 9 vehicles from 5 car brands that drive with electricity, instead of gasoline. This technology is advancing and many new types of affordable electric vehicles are coming out soon. We loved showing these cars off to our bike riders and a few members of the public, and the vehicle owners loved chatting about how much they enjoy driving electric.
After lunch we saw small wind turbines at Essity (formerly SCA Tissue) right along the bike path. These 4 turbines were designed and installed by a former Wisconsin company called Renewegy (which is unfortunately no longer in business). Next we headed to Heckrodt Wetland Reserve in Menasha where we learned about their tremendous efforts to preserve this part of the state and how solar power is a sustainable part of their growth.
We next saw an innovative solar carport at the Petit and Dommershausen law offices in downtown Menasha, where were treated to a much-needed snack. Then we biked to RiverHeath, which is a new development in Appleton right along the Fox River. Mike Barnett of HGA described an innovative use of geothermal energy, designed by HGA and installed by G.O. Loop, that uses the temperature of the water to provide heating and cooling to the new buildings in the RiverHeath complex.
Last, but certainly not least, we biked to the first power plant in Wisconsin that delivered electricity to a customer. We were greeted by “Thomas Edison,” a generous measure provided by the Appleton Historical Society, who helped explain the origins of the Vulcan Street Hydropower Plant which was put into service in 1882 and provided electricity for lights at paper manufacturing plants as well as one home.
The actual Vulcan plant burned down in 1889. The Appleton Historical Society, as well as Ford Motor Company, contributed many hours and, in Ford’s case, equipment, to allow this replica of the original hydropower plant in Wisconsin to stand and to give visitors like us the opportunity to learn about Wisconsin’s energy history and see it in action.
Finally, we arrived back at Prairie Hill Park, where we enjoyed beer from Central Waters based in Amherst and celebrated a great event with our riders! The weather was outstanding, and we can’t wait to plan next year’s Ride with RENEW.
Four of RENEW staff members joined Board member Jim Funk of Energize LLC as he showed off one of Wisconsin’s earliest examples of “bi-facial” solar panels – panels that can receive light from both sides of the panel to create electricity. This installation at a carport has served as a beautiful visual example of solar energy in the Fox Cities since 2010. For example, check out the very cool design when our staff member Jim Boullion’s car was parked underneath the panels.
Check out our Facebook photo album to see more images of the ride!
Thank you again to all of our sponsors, shown below, all the bike riders, the Girl Scouts, Lego League, and everyone who donated to support our riders and helped us raise over $17,000 to continue our education, advocacy, and collaboration to advance renewable energy in Wisconsin!
2019 RIDE WITH RENEW SPONSORS
by Sam Dunaiski | Sep 26, 2019 | Community, Events, Programs, RENEW Wisconsin, Renewables, Solar, Solar for Good
Construction of Juda School District’s new solar array began on Tuesday, September 17th and Juda High School students got a first-hand look at the solar installation process. Ryan Harkins of Synergy Renewables, designed the 4-kilowatt solar array that will help the school offset its electricity consumption and reduce its utility bills.
Sixteen students, mostly seniors from Juda’s Calculus and Engineering classes participated in the installation process.
“Helping put solar panels on our school really shows what our Engineering class can accomplish,” said Juda student Tristan Geisking.
Harkins showed the students how to install the panels’ racking and connection devices, and the students also learned how solar energy is produced.
“Developing a solar project from the planning stages to the installation is an experience the students will remember for years to come,” said Harkins. “The students did a fantastic job.”
In 2012, the Juda School District set a goal of generating 10% of their electricity from renewable energy. The district had 36 solar panels installed in 2014 to offset its electric use. The new solar installation adds 12 more panels to the school’s rooftop and the two installations combined offset nearly 10% of the school’s electricity.
To help with costs, Juda received grants from RENEW Wisconsin’s Solar for Good program and the Public Service Commission’s Office of Energy Innovation. These grants helped fund the solar array, and a host of other energy efficiency measures at the school including building envelope improvements, HVAC optimization, and 100% LED lighting.
“Initially, the proposed payback to the school district would take 6 years. Now, thanks to the Energy Innovation Grant, the school is already realizing the savings,” stated Mario Millonzi, President of Upper 90 Energy and contractor on the project.
Juda is now saving over $30,000 per year in utility costs, and over $6,000 in yearly maintenance costs. The school, however, sees the cost-savings as only one part of the project’s benefits.
“At Juda, we issue the challenge to the students to make the school, the community, and the world better,” said Juda Math and Engineering Instructor, Scott Anderson. “This project accomplishes all three.”
Students at Juda were key to the success of the projects. In addition to helping with the installation, they helped write grants and worked with Upper 90 on the energy saving details.
“Creating students who are aware of their role as stewards of our world may be the single most important thing I teach,” added Anderson. “Once they get started, it’s great to see what they can accomplish.”
