by RENEW Wisconsin | May 3, 2013 | Uncategorized
From the office of Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive:
Funding, Partnerships Secured to Begin Project in Coming Weeks in Town of Springfield
MADISON — Construction of Dane County’s second “Cow Power” facility is set to begin in the coming weeks as final agreements needed for the project are slated to be approved this evening, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced today.
Pending approval by the Dane County Board at their meeting tonight, the agreements will secure $3.3 million in previously-awarded grant funding from the state to help finance construction of the digester just outside of Middleton. The agreements also formalize private ownership and operations of the facility with Gundersen Health System.
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by jboullion | May 2, 2013 | Uncategorized
RENEW Wisconsin’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Tyler Huebner has been chosen to be RENEW’s Executive Director, beginning June 1.
Tyler comes to RENEW with a rich background in clean energy, government, and nonprofit organizations. He worked for the State of Wisconsin (Division of Energy Services) and the U.S. Department of Energy (Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Division) managing initiatives within the Weatherization Assistance Program. Tyler was also a consultant for ICF International and a Facilities Management Engineer for the University of Iowa, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He holds a Master’s degree from Stanford University in Civil and
Environmental Engineering.
“Tyler brings an enthusiastic attitude and a unique ability to work with other stakeholders. He clearly sees both the challenges and opportunities related to leading a renewable energy policy organization in Wisconsin today,” said Jenny Heinzen, RENEW’s Board President.
Aside from his busy working life, Tyler and his wife Heather are new parents with the birth of their first child, Emma born in April. They reside in Madison.
by RENEW Wisconsin | Apr 30, 2013 | Uncategorized
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by RENEW Wisconsin | Apr 26, 2013 | Uncategorized
from Michael Vickerman
In addition to unwanted snow showers, April 2013 has brought us a flurry of clean energy news stories. Taken together, these recent developments offer a revealing picture of the unique challenges we face in Wisconsin in advancing an energy future that is less reliant on fossil fuels.
On the face of it, the announcement on Earth Day that several Wisconsin utilitie will retire a minimum of 260 MW of older coal-fired plants and spend $1.2 billion on pollution control upgrades should qualify as good news. The settlement with U.S. EPA also obligates Wisconsin Power & Light (Alliant Energy) and Madison Gas & Electric to offer up to $5.5 million to support solar PV installation in their territories.
However, if one does the math, the solar component adds up to only one-half of one percent of the total amount the utilities will spend under this settlement. The price tag of the pollution control work even exceeds the nearly $1 billion it will cost to decommission the soon-to-be-retired Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant. That 39-year-old plant will cease operating in May.
With a combined price tag exceeding $2 billion, these will very likely be the two most expensive electricity-related projects initiated this decade. Ratepayers will absorb the full cost of the pollution control measures undertaken by the owners of the Columbia and Edgewater power plants.
If Kewaunee’s retirement and the planned shutdowns of Alliant’s Nelson Dewey and Edgewater 3 plants had been announced five years ago, Wisconsin would be swarming with wind and bioenergy developers right now. But utility interest in renewable energy development has diminished markedly, owing to the unfavorable political climate here for windpower development and the belief that natural gas will stay cheap for years to come. Furthermore, electricity providers have largely fulfilled their requirements under Wisconsin’s modest Renewable Electricity Standard, and there is no successor policy in sight.
Don’t get me wrong. We are elated that up to $5.5 million will be set aside for new solar electric generating capacity. But that sum is insufficient to remedy the massive imbalance in Wisconsin’s electricity resource mix. Even when being shuttered for good, Wisconsin’s legacy coal and nuclear plants seem destined to cast a long shadow over our energy future and draw resources away from building a less fossil-fuel-intensive energy economy.
Contrast these stories with two recent developments in Iowa. First, Facebook announced that it will locate a brand-new data center near Des Moines. There were many ingredients that led to the selection of Iowa as a data center host, not least of which is a substantial in-state wind energy portfolio that help keep Iowa electricity rates well below the national average.
The other milestone was a recent Circuit Court decision that moves Iowa tantalizingly close to the day when electricity customers can freely contract with third parties to provide them with renewable energy produced on their premises. If this becomes an explicit policy in Iowa, the solar energy market should mushroom there, as it has in states like New Jersey, California and Colorado.
Natural gas prices are just as low in Iowa as they are here, but you won’t find the utilities there using that as an argument against investing in renewables. In the case of Facebook, ongoing renewable investments helped seal the deal. The social media giant is hungry for wind generation, and Mid-American, which has ample supplies of windpower, is hungry for new customers with large energy appetites.
A similar dynamic could evolve in Wisconsin, but the state’s utilities need to understand how valuable clean energy is to attracting companies and industries to set up shop here.
by RENEW Wisconsin | Apr 25, 2013 | Uncategorized
Gary Radloff, director of Midwest policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Wisconsin Energy Institute released a report “How to Keep Wisconsin and the U.S. Competitive in a Changing Energy World.” Check out the article below and read the report!
Report: Wisconsin needs an energy plan to stay competitive
A new report warns that Wisconsin’s economic competitiveness could be at risk if the state doesn’t diversify its electricity sources.
The Badger State is already burdened by the second highest electricity prices in the Midwest, with only Michigan customers paying more on average.
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by RENEW Wisconsin | Apr 25, 2013 | Uncategorized
Good news out of Adams County…
Plans outlined for New Chester Dairy manure digester – The Country Today: Dairy:
NEW CHESTER — Plans for a $25 million anaerobic digester project that will process dairy manure, chicken offal and other food waste products from businesses in Adams and Marquette counties was outlined April 4 during a media event at the Milk Source New Chester Dairy.
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