by jboullion | Mar 12, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article in The Capital Times:
Wisconsin will receive almost $200 million from the economic stimulus package in weatherization and energy funding, according to an announcement Thursday by Gov. Jim Doyle.
The $196,990,133 in funding includes $141,502,133 for the Weatherization Assistance Program and another $55,488,000 for the State Energy Program.
Doyle also announced Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu will be in Wisconsin on Friday. While in Wisconsin, the two will meet with local energy, business, and labor leaders and help weatherize a Milwaukee home.
“This important funding puts hardworking Wisconsin families to work and puts our state and country on a path towards energy independence,” Doyle said. “I look forward to partnering with Secretary Chu and the Obama administration in charting a cleaner and brighter future for generations to come.”
Almost $8 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will go to weatherization of homes, including adding more insulation, sealing leaks and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment, which is expected to pay for itself many times over.
The Weatherization Assistance Program will allow an average investment of up to $6,500 per home in energy efficiency upgrades and will be available for families making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $44,000 a year for a family of four.
For more information on energy assistance or weatherization needs for qualified residential households, call 866-432-8947.
by jboullion | Mar 11, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Kevin Murphy in the La Crosse Tribune:
MADISON — Xcel Energy customers could choose to have more of the electricity they use come from renewable sources if the Wisconsin Public Service Commission approves a request Xcel submitted Friday.
The Voluntary Renewable Energy Source program would allow Xcel to charge $1.15 per 100 kilowatts for power produced by wind, solar or biomass sources but not from hydro, said David Donovan, Xcel’s manager of regulatory policy.
For typical residential customers using 750 kilowatts of power a month, the “green pricing” premium would add $8.62 to their existing $81.57 bill.
Xcel is the last utility in the state to offer an optional green energy plan for customers, Donovan said, but the company generates 14 percent of its power from renewable sources and has added 1,200 megawatts of wind power in recent years.
“Now there is a demand for it. Not just from residential customers, but commercial and industrial customers are interested in renewables beyond our base rate,” he said.
by jboullion | Mar 10, 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 | 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
by jboullion | Feb 25, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release posted on WQOW TV (Eau Claire):
ASHLAND, Wis. (Press Release) – Following more than a year of study and planning, Xcel Energy announced it has filed an application for a Certificate of Authority with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) to install biomass gasification technology at its Bay Front Power Plant in Ashland. When completed, the project will convert the plant’s remaining coal-fired unit to biomass gasification technology, allowing it to use 100 percent biomass in all three boilers and making it the largest biomass plant in the Midwest. Currently, two of the three operating units at Bay Front use biomass as their primary fuel to generate electricity.
The project, estimated at $58 million, will require additional biomass receiving and handling facilities at the plant, an external gasifier, minor modifications to the plant’s remaining coal-fired boiler and an enhanced air quality control system. The total generation output of the plant is not expected to change significantly as a result of the project. . . .
The Bay Front Power Plant was originally constructed and began operation in 1916. In 1960, it operated five boilers and six turbines. Since then, two of the boilers, and three of the turbines, have been retired. The three remaining boilers feed into a combined steam header system that can support three turbine-generator sets. During a major plant improvement project completed in 1991, the plant was equipped with an upgraded air quality control system, which includes two gravel bed filters designed to remove more than 98 percent of particulate matter.
Last year, Xcel Energy installed NOx (nitrogen oxide) emission control equipment on the two boilers that primarily burn wood, allowing both to continue to operate into the foreseeable future. When evaluating various alternatives for the remaining boiler, which primarily burns coal, it was determined that expanding Bay Front as a biomass resource was preferred over incurring significant environmental compliance costs relating to the Clean Air Interstate Rule and regulations on mercury emissions. . . .
When complete, the project will reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by more than 60 percent, sulfur dioxides by more than 80 percent and particulate matter by more than 80 percent. In addition, displacing coal with sustainably harvested biomass will also reduce net carbon dioxide emissions, contributing to the company and state of Wisconsin’s carbon management goals.
The primary source of biomass at Bay Front is expected to be the lower quality, unused materials that are currently left in area forests following traditional harvests, such as treetops, logging slash, damaged trees, underutilized species, and the cull and mortality classed trees. Initial investigations conducted by Xcel Energy show more than ample supplies of this lower quality biomass within the area.
To ensure future biomass supplies are available on a reliable basis, Xcel Energy is working with the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence, University of Wisconsin-Madison and local agricultural experts to explore the feasibility of developing biomass plantations and grower cooperatives.
“Xcel Energy has been a long-time leader in providing renewable energy from local sources to the citizens of Wisconsin,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director, RENEW Wisconsin. Mark Redsten, executive director, Clean Wisconsin, agreed.
