ECOS-Fox Valley

Kaukauna moves ahead with hydro plant plan

2012-01-23T09:20:00.000-06:00

From an article by Larry Avila in the Appleton Post-Crescent:

KAUKAUNA — The scene outside Jeffrey Feldt's office window is dominated by the sight and sound of water rushing out of two aging hydro power plants.

This will change in the spring when "Old Badger" and "New Badger," which have operated reliably together for more than 80 years, will be shut down and the area transformed into a construction site, said Feldt, general manager of Kaukauna Utilities. The time has come to replace the power-generating facilities, the first built in 1908 and the other in 1928.

After a decade-long process, which included assorted environmental and economic feasibility studies as well as securing state and federal regulatory approval, the Kaukauna Common Council approved a $44,875,000 bond issue Jan. 17 to cover the costs of building a new $25.5 million hydro power plant and rebuilding the canal — for $10.5 million — which supplies water to the facility. Work is scheduled to start in May with construction expected to last 18 months, city officials said.

Modernization will come at a price, likely in the form of higher electrical rates for the utility's 15,000 power customers in 2013. The utility plans to file a request with the state Public Service Commission before the end of March to seek a 6.5 percent rate increase to generate more revenue to repay the bonds.Rising expenses

Bill Roloff, owner and president of Roloff Manufacturing in Kaukauna, recognizes the benefit of updating the power plants and understands higher electric bills are coming.

"Personally, it's something that's needed," said Roloff, whose business produces assorted castings and is a big power user.

He estimates electricity costs represent 15 percent of his company's overall annual expenses. A rate increase may raise his power costs up to 20 percent, but Roloff sees that as a worst-case scenario.

Citizen and business action groups help leaders form energy policy

2012-01-19T13:27:00.002-06:00

From a report by Alex Brasch on RENEW's Energy Policy Summit:

MADISON, Wis. - Can local governments work together with citizen action groups to effectively transition America away from reliance on fossil fuels? The answer in Wisconsin and Colorado seems to be yes.

Members of Wisconsin's renewable energy industry convened in Madison for the RENEW Wisconsin Energy Policy Summit last week. The diverse crowd of renewable energy manufacturers, installers, state utilities, environmental advocacy groups, university representatives, and government officials, including Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, came together to focus their efforts on retaking the initiative in the fight for a more sustainable energy future for Wisconsin.

Members heard from keynote speaker Leslie Glustrom, a biochemist who belongs to a similar organization in Boulder, Colo. - a group that recently led a successful ballot initiative to authorize creation of a municipal utility in that city.

Don Wichert, founder of RENEW and former chief of energy resources with the Wisconsin Department of Administration and current director of renewable energy services at the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation created the advocacy group more than 20 years ago to address government officials about clean energy development in the state.

Wichert said Wisconsin spends nearly $6 billion per year on imported coal, petroleum, and natural gas. "As a renewable energy advocacy group composed of concerned citizens, clean energy businesses, environmental organizations, and government employees, RENEW Wisconsin seeks to change the way people think about and consume energy through a combination of advocacy, education, and creative partnerships with state and local governments, businesses, utilities, and citizen groups," Wichert said.

Michael Vickerman, long-time executive director of RENEW, expressed optimism that, "despite current rollbacks of renewable energy policies, including the suspension of clean energy incentives and a weakening of state laws that leverage utility-purchased renewable energy, there is still a network of supportive local officials throughout the state." He challenged advocates to resist acquiescing to the current political situation, and instead, use the sum influence of the clean energy industry, including non-profits and concerned citizens, to drum up support for clean energy development. Vickerman provided three guiding principles as a springboard to start discussion on how to retake the initiative.

First, reframe the message by presenting the industry's true potential as a group of highly-motivated, dynamic organizations with a unifying business plan that will generate green jobs. Second, assert the fact that renewable energy is something intensely desired by businesses and citizens, because it gives customers more options, businesses increased market appeal, and a surefire pathway to more local jobs. And finally, pursue community-owned renewable projects that will keep energy production local and redirect investment into the area economy.

Only 20, not 200, years of coal; we have to move "so fast" to get to 100% renewables

2012-01-05T12:26:00.000-06:00

Leslie Glustrom is the featured speaker at RENEW's Energy Policy Summit, January 13, Madison. Read the report that she mentions about 11 minutes into the interview.

Register and get details about the Summit at the Summit Web page.

See who and what companies are coming to RENEW Energy Policy Summit

2012-01-03T20:01:00.001-06:00

It's 2012 and the world of energy is shifting fast. Will you be part of the conversation around the shape that will take in Wisconsin?

If you or your business plan to BUILD, BUY, or BE part of Wisconsin's renewable energy future, register NOW for RENEW's Energy Policy SUMMIT on Friday JANUARY 13th in Madison.

There are a LIMITED number of SPACES available for the RENEW Energy Policy Summit. REGISTER TODAY to make sure you have a seat in the room. Click here to register for the Summit.

Want to know who else will be at the Summit table? You can see which people and what companies are registered to participate in the RENEW Energy Policy Summit at the event home page Click here to see who's coming.

Set your clocks for 2012 and get to the table with RENEW Wisconsin.

RENEW Energy Policy Summit
Date: 1/13/2012 8:30 AM CST - 5:30 PM CST
Location: Pyle Center, UW-Madison Campus
702 Langdon Street
Madison, WI 53703

For more informations and questions email Ed Blume.

Solar PV system installed on First Congregational Church, UCC in Sheboygan

2011-12-22T14:33:00.000-06:00

A news release issued by Arch Electric:

Arch Electric recently installed and commissioned a 19.32-kilowatt solar electric (PV) system for First Congregational Church, UCC in the City of Sheboygan.

The solar array consists of 84 solar modules and was installed on the roof of the church building with a custom-designed ballast rack system that required only 1 roof penetration into the building.

On an annual basis the Solar PV System will produce over 24,000 kilowatt hours of electricity and save the church more than $2,800.

The solar panel manufacturer has a facility in Georgia, the racking system was designed and manufactured in Southeast Wisconsin, and the NABCEP Certified installers from Arch Electric are local residents. Based in Plymouth, WI, Arch Electric is a leading designer and installer of renewable energy throughout the Midwest, having commissioned over 2-Megawatts of renewable energy on businesses, homes, churches, farms, YMCA’s and other organizations.

Arch Electric also installed a solar electric system at St. Nicholas Senior Apartments in Sheboygan.

Manure-to-electricty plant planned for Greenbush farm

2011-12-21T13:16:00.004-06:00

From an article by Josh Lintereur in the Sheboygan Press:

For the past 71 years, the cows at the Goeser family dairy farm in rural Plymouth have been fairly prolific at producing two things — milk and manure.

But by next year, the cows could also become a reliable source of renewable energy.Using a simple process that's been around for decades, a Milwaukee startup firm called U.S. Biogas has proposed building a small power plant at the farm that would use cow manure to create electricity.

At peak production, the plant, called an anaerobic digester, could process 15 million gallons of manure a year and produce enough electricity to power up to 1,200 homes.

The process would also produce a liquid fertilizer that can be used to grow crops, along with a fiber product that can be used as bedding for the farm's 2,000 cows. Any unused fiber — which is rich in nutrients — will be sold to nurseries and landscapers.

The benefit to the farm is that the resulting fertilizer would be mostly odor free, and its phosphorous content would be cut by 50 to 60 percent, meaning there would be significantly less phosphorous runoff into nearby lakes and streams.

"It's a good deal for us, and we feel it's a positive for the public," said Craig Goeser, who owns the third-generation dairy with his two brothers, Pat and Brian. "You're reducing the amount of phosphorous going out into the fields, so you're protecting the environment, and you're not burning coal to produce electricity."

If the project goes forward, the plant would be the only one of its kind operating at a Sheboygan County dairy farm, and it would join the growing number of manure digesters operating in Wisconsin, which produces more so-called cow power than any other state.

Years later, Wisconsin wind farm fears fail to materialize

2011-12-20T11:09:00.000-06:00

From an article by Rick Chamberlin in Midwest Energy News:

LINCOLN TOWNSHIP, Wis. — When the 31 Vestas wind turbines in northeast Kewaunee County, Wisconsin began producing electricity in the summer of 1999, a moderate Republican named Tommy Thompson was a few months into his fourth term as governor. Relative peace reigned between the parties in the legislature, statewide unemployment was at a record low and the Dow had just topped 10,000 for the first time.

But in Lincoln and Red River townships, where the turbines were erected, the climate was anything but mild. Residents’ tempers had been flaring since before April 1998 when Madison Gas & Electric (MGE) hosted the first meetings in the community about its plans to build 11.2 megawatts of wind power in the area. Wisconsin Public Service (WPS), a Green Bay-based utility, had also announced its intention to build a large-scale wind farm in the area.

Despite the heat, the two utilities found more than enough landowners in the two towns willing to host all 31 turbines, and the town boards soon voted to approve conditional use permits for the projects. But pressure from several vocal landowners convinced the Lincoln town board in February of 1999 to amend its zoning ordinance to require board affirmation of all applications for future conditional use permits. A few months later, both townships adopted 18-month moratoriums on future wind farm sitings.

“We had some real knock-down-drag-outs,” said Mick Sagrillo, who chaired a committee charged with evaluating the impact of the projects on residents and proposing any changes to the permit process. More than anything, Sagrillo said, people feared change. . . .

A 2003 study by the Renewable Energy Policy Project (REPP) found “no significant evidence that the presence of the wind farms had a negative effect on residential property values” in the communities closest to the Kewaunee County turbines. . . .

When asked if dollars promised to landowners and the townships have materialized, Jerabek said, “I haven’t had any landowners complain that they haven’t received their lease payment.”

Coal Critic Coming to Madison to Speak on Effective Renewable Energy Advocacy, January 13, 2012

2011-12-08T14:02:00.002-06:00

For immediate release
December 7, 2011

More information
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

Leslie Glustrom, research director of Colorado-based Clean Energy Action, and an unwavering critic of utility reliance on coal for electricity generation, will be the featured speaker at RENEW Wisconsin’s Energy Policy Summit.

The Summit will be held on Friday, January 13, 2012, at the University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Pyle Center located on the UW-Madison campus. Summit attendees will spend the day discussing and selecting renewable energy strategies that make sense in the current political environment in Wisconsin. More information on the Summit can be found on the RENEW Wisconsin website at http://www.renewwisconsin.org.

As research director, Glustrom authored in 2009 an extensively referenced report on U.S. coal supplies titled, “Coal—Cheap and Abundant—Or Is It? Why Americans Should Stop Assuming that the US has a 200-Year Supply of Coal,” available for free at http://www.cleanenergyaction.org.

Since 2009, Glustrom has traveled to numerous states helping them to understand the likely constraints on their coal supplies.
Glustrom’s on-going research illuminates a future in which coal prices will likely continue to escalate, driven by a combination of less accessible coal supplies, increasing demand from Asian countries, and rising diesel fuel costs for hauling coal to distant markets like Wisconsin.

Clean Energy Action is spearheading a campaign to shut down Colorado’s coal-fired power plants and replace them with locally generated renewable electricity.

“Leslie’s experiences with Clean Energy Action can help Wisconsin renewable energy advocates formulate effective strategies for 2012 and beyond,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide sustainable energy advocacy organization headquartered in Madison.

“Even though Colorado is a coal-producing state, it has adopted some of the most aggressive policies in the country for advancing renewable energy,” said Vickerman. “Colorado’s commitment to clean energy is driving its economy at a time when its coal output is diminishing. For example, Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines with four plants employing 1,700 people in Colorado, supplied 90 turbines this year to Wisconsin’s largest wind project, the Glacier Hills Wind Park in Columbia County.”

“Leslie will inspire us to reverse the retreat from renewables and retake the initiative going forward,” Vickerman said.

In Boulder, Glustrom was part of the team that led the successful 2010 and 2011 ballot initiatives allowing Boulder to move ahead with plans to municipalize and break away from the long term commitment to coal plants made by their incumbent utility, Xcel Energy.

-- END --

Iowa farmers find profits blowing in the wind

2011-12-02T15:09:00.000-06:00

From an article by Jim Offner in The Courier:

WATERLOO, Iowa --- Of the 480 acres Tim Hemphill owns and 1,200 he farms near Milford, he sets aside three for two wind-turbine towers.

In exchange for the small plot of land Hemphill would have devoted to his corn and soybean products, he collects $20,000 a year.

"It's worth it, even with high grain prices," Hemphill said. "When we put them up, corn was around $3 a bushel, and it has doubled since then, but it's still worth it."

"The check's always good," he said.

Hemphills's towers have been up for two years, and the checks will flow in quarterly for the run of a 30-year contract, he said.

Hemphill said he is but one of an increasing number of Iowa farmers who have watched wind towers go up on their acreages.

"There's quite a few farmers I know who have them," he said. "My neighbor has six of them and another with seven."

Hemphill said his motivation transcends finances, although he acknowledges the income certainly doesn't hurt.

"I think we need more green energy," he said. "People in California and the cities have brownouts. Besides, it's a good revenue source."

Solar PV System Installed on St. Nicholas Senior Apartments, Sheboygan

2011-11-30T01:54:00.001-06:00

A news release issued by Arch Electric:

Arch Electric recently installed and commissioned a 30-kilowatt solar electricity (PV) system for St. Nicholas Redevelopment in the City of Sheboygan. The solar array was installed on the roof of the St. Nicholas Senior Apartments located at 916 Huron Ave. One hundred twenty six (126) solar modules were installed on a custom-engineered steel racking system. On an annual basis the Solar PV System will produce over 36,000 kilowatt hours of electricity and save the property over $4,300.

The solar panel company has a production facility in Georgia, the racking system was designed and manufactured in Southeast Wisconsin, and the NABCEP Certified installers from Arch Electric are local residents. The former St. Nicholas hospital building was renovated into Senior Apartments in 1980.

Based in Plymouth, WI, Arch Electric is a leading designer and installer of renewable energy throughout the Midwest, having commissioned close to 2-Megawatts of renewable energy on businesses, homes, churches, farms, YMCA’s and other organizations.

Solar energy has come to downtown Green Bay park

2011-11-29T11:53:00.000-06:00

From an article by Scott Cooper Williams in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

. . . City and industry leaders Tuesday dedicated two solar energy panels designed to educate the public about the alternative energy source.

The square, flat panels erected at Leicht Memorial Park could generate enough electricity to light up the city-owned park — or two average-sized homes.

Mayor Jim Schmitt said he hopes adults and children will visit the downtown park to see solar energy in action and consider its usefulness.

Partnering on the project with Wisconsin Public Service Corp. also demonstrates the city's commitment to sustainable government services, Schmitt said.

"It just shows where Green Bay is going," the mayor said during dedication ceremonies Tuesday at the riverfront park.

WPS officials earlier this year approached the city about a solar energy installation on city property. After some discussion, the two sides agreed that downtown was the best place to enhance public understanding about it.

The utility company spent about $32,000 to install 20-foot-tall panels that will rotate to follow the sun's movements.

Company officials called it the first use of solar energy in downtown Green Bay.

ECOS-FV monthly meeting, Dec. 1

2011-11-29T10:01:00.000-06:00

The purpose of the December 1, 2011 meeting of ECOS-FV will be to discuss the coordination of Earth Week Fox Valley 2012. It is anticipated that this meeting will be relatively short and should be less than an hour in duration. All are welcome to attend. We encourage your input about how we can make Earth Week Fox Valley 2012 successful. If you have any questions regarding Earth Week Fox Valley 2012, please email Kathy Thunes at kthunes@eastcentralrpc.org or phone Kathy at (920)751-4770 (work) or (920)734-3489 (home).

Earth Week Fox Valley 2012
Informational Meeting

Date: Thursday, December 1, 2011
Location: Menasha Public Library, Lower Level – Company E Room
Time: 6:30 PM (free and open to the public)

Agenda:

1. Welcome and Introductions

2. Discussion of 2011 Earth Week Activity Coordination
a. What went well
b. Changes we should make as we move forward

3. Discussion of 2012 Earth Week Activity Coordination
a. Contacts
b. Deadlines
c. Website
d. Where to email event information
e. Printing of Poster and Flyers
f. Distribution
g. Community wide challenge
h. Other

4. Adjourn

RENEW Wisconsin hosts Renewable Energy Policy Summit, Jan. 13, 2012

2011-11-23T16:17:00.021-06:00

REtaking Initiative - REframing Message REvitalizing Economy

8:30 am - 4:00 pm

Pyle Center, UW-Madison Campus

702 Langdon Street

Madison, WI 53703

Wisconsin's renewable energy marketplace is going through a tumultuous period. We need to chart a new course for 2012 to address the ongoing policy uncertainties and emerging marketplace realities.

RENEW WI invites stakeholders from around the state to join us in shaping the renewable energy community’s 2012 policy agenda.

If you want to build or buy any part of today's energy economy, this is a conversation you want to be part of. Join RENEW members, businesses, energy customers, and legislators to craft a robust policy platform for renewable energy in Wisconsin.

Breakout Groups will discuss strategies for:

Expanding Market Access for Customers and Generators;

Economics of Renewable Production;

Regulatory Environment for Renewable Production ;

How do we choose who we want to be customers of?

Summit Outcomes

Summit Statement for enacting an Energy Economy that works for Wisconsin, with RENEW Wisconsin facilitating working groups throughout 2012.

More information and registration at RENEW Wisconsin Renewable Energy Policy Summit.

Manitowoc wind factory to supply Caterpillar mining unit

2011-11-23T11:19:00.000-06:00

From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Wind energy supply-chain factories in Manitowoc and Texas will start making equipment for mining equipment made by Caterpillar, Broadwind Energy Inc. said Tuesday.

The former Tower Tech factory in Manitowoc makes wind towers, including those recently erected in Columbia County for the We Energies Glacier Hills Wind Park.

"This collaboration fits well with our strategic initiatives to leverage our core competencies beyond the wind industry and diversify our revenue base. We believe this is the first step in expanding our relationship with Caterpillar as we continue to collaborate," said Paul Smith, president of Broadwind Towers, in a statement.

Under the deal with Caterpillar, Broadwind will supply the former Bucyrus International Inc. of South Milwaukee with welded sub-assemblies for large draglines, crawlers and excavating equipment.

The move is expected to add 50 jobs, spread between Manitowoc and Abilene, Texas, Broadwind said in a statement.

Manitowoc company will fabricate larger towers for larger wind turbines

2011-11-17T14:09:00.001-06:00

From an article by Lauren Craig on Earth Techling:

Since 2004, Broadwind Energy has manufactured more than 1,000 towers for wind industry leaders like Clipper Wind Power, Gamesa Wind US, Nordex and Vestas at its factory in Manitowoc, Wis. Lately, the company has moved toward specializing in larger towers for multi-megawatt turbines, and is one of the first U.S. companies to produce 100-meter towers.

The taller towers have been selected by Siemens for the expansion of its MidAmerican Energy wind project in Iowa, and will support Siemens’ large 2.3-megawatt (MW) turbines, which have a rotor diameter of 331 feet – longer than a football field. Broadwind will supply 36 towers for the project, and Siemens has also signed an option for an additional 25 towers. The towers will be the first the company has supplied for Siemens.

Siemens and Mortenson Construction [a Minnesota company with locations in Wisconsin] recently completed the expansion of MidAmerican Energy’s wind-power plant near Pomeroy, the first phase of a larger expansion project that will ultimately add 258 wind turbines to three MidAmerican projects in the state this year. The remaining 245 turbines will be erected at MidAmerican’s Rolling Hills and Laurel wind plants by year-end. After the expansion, the three-plant project will have a combined capacity of 593.4 MW, enough to power about 190,000 homes.

Gen. Wesley Clark on wind, veterans and energy security

2011-11-11T13:06:00.001-06:00

State urged to beef up clean energy policies to create jobs

2011-10-26T15:12:00.002-05:00

From an article by Judy Newman in the Wisconsin State Journal:

Two reports show Wisconsin has a significant renewable power industry, but with a stronger state commitment, it could be saving more energy and creating more jobs.

Wisconsin has more than 300 businesses involved in wind or solar energy, providing more than 12,000 jobs, according to a study by the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago.

It found 171 Wisconsin companies that either produce, sell or install wind power equipment or plan wind development.

Another 135 companies are part of the solar energy industry. For example, Cardinal Glass makes solar panels in Mazomanie; Helios recently opened a solar panel factory in Milwaukee.

"These are real jobs; these are real businesses. Many are existing businesses that are branching out into new product lines," said Howard Learner, the center's executive director.

Ten years ago, Wisconsin was considered a leader on renewal energy policy, so companies located here, Learner said. "That policy support has now been eroding, and neighboring states —Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan — now have much stronger renewable standards than Wisconsin does and are exceeding Wisconsin in terms of jobs," he added.

Meanwhile, at a news conference Tuesday, representatives of clean energy businesses made a pitch for more money for Wisconsin's Focus on Energy program, saying it will save energy, cut consumers' costs and create jobs.

In the 10 years since it was created, Focus programs have saved utility customers 6.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, or 6.8 months of the total residential power use in the state, says the report by the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance in Chicago. It says the programs also have saved 278 therms of natural gas, or 1.8 years of statewide residential consumption.

Appleton Coated: Offers five Green Power Utopia options

2011-10-26T13:11:00.003-05:00

From a news release issued by Appleton Coated:

Combined Locks, Wis. (Oct. 10, 2011) – Appleton Coated has transitioned its renewable electricity purchasing to renewable energy credits (RECS) from Green-e® certified energy sources. Now, Green Power is a standard offer in five grades of the Utopia® brand of coated printing papers: Utopia Premium, Utopia One (sheets and web), U1X:Green (sheets and web), Utopia Two (sheets) and U2:XG (sheets and web). Effective Oct. 3, 2011, these five grades feature Green-e certified Green Power.

“One hundred percent of the electricity used to manufacture these products is matched with RECS from Green-e certified energy sources -- primarily wind. Purchasing Utopia papers with Green Power increases support for building clean, efficient, wind-powered facilities and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Demonstrating this forward-thinking commitment to the environment by choosing Green Power Utopia requires no additional effort or cost,” says Ferkó Goldinger, advertising and promotion manager.

Customers also may specify Green Power for Appleton Coated’s papers that do not include this as standard. Those choosing this option will be charged a small additional cost and will be provided with a certificate of purchase plus the Green Power logo, if requested.

Learn more about Appleton Coated’s environmental focus and features in the "Utopia Green Zone”. This online resource presents an easy, interactive format to compare up to four product choices and calculate the environmental savings.

Lena High School dedicates solar panel

2011-10-20T13:59:00.001-05:00

From an article in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

Lena High School is among the 47 high schools in Northeastern Wisconsin to be awarded Wisconsin Public Services's SolarWise for Schools distinction.

In August, the school received a 2-kilowatt solar-electric system awning mount on the front exterior of the school.

Middle and high school students attended a dedication ceremony for the solar-electric system on Oct. 6, in the high school gymnasium.

Speakers included Lena District Administrator David Honish, WPS Community Foundation representative Karmen Lemke, State Sen. Dave Hansen, WPS Renewable Energy Manager Mike Moore and Lena Science Teacher Linda Schraufnagel.

Following the dedication ceremony students in grades 1-12 attended a renewable energy fair sponsored by Wisconsin Public Service. Students went on a scavenger hunt to learn about different types of renewable energy, energy conservation, electrical safety, played with solar toys, built solar bead bracelets, viewed different bird and osprey nests, rode the energy cycle, learned about career opportunities in the energy field and viewed a new Chevy Volt electric hybrid vehicle.

Every May, Lena High School students will have the opportunity to compete in more than a dozen different solar contests at Solar Olympics, held at one of three UW campuses. Students from all SolarWise schools compete in contests such as solar sculpture, solar car race, solar water heater, solar cooker, solar marketing campaign, photography and more.

The system was donated to the school by the WPS Community Foundation as part of the SolarWise for Schools program.

No excuse to stall rules on wind farms

2011-10-19T11:02:00.000-05:00

From an editorial in the Racine Journal Times:

The wind turbines have stopped turning in Wisconsin, figuratively speaking. For months, the rewrite of rules governing the siting of wind energy farms has been stalled. New investments and new jobs also have been stalled because of that, and there is no good reason for it.

When Gov. Scott Walker took office in January he worked to short-circuit the rule-making process which was then almost complete after two years. The Public Service Commission had reached a compromise with interest groups which would have placed the wind turbine towers about 450 feet away from the nearest property line but no less than 1,250 feet from the nearest residence. Walker wanted the property line setback increased to 1,800 feet.

Ultimately, a legislative committee didn’t act on a bill containing Walker’s proposed standard and instead ordered the PSC to start over. That’s where the process remains. A member of the agency told the Wisconsin State Journal that talks have made no progress and are stuck over the same old issues: noise, setback distance and effect on the value of neighboring properties.

If there is no progress by March the PSC’s original regulations will take effect anyway, but wind farm opponents have no incentive to negotiate. All they have to do is wait. Either wind energy proponents capitulate and give them what they want, or the Legislature writes a new law which gives them what they want or Walker, with his new power to review regulations first, will give them what they want.

There is a high price for this stalling. Since the rules were becalmed, five major wind energy projects have been suspended or canceled. Those would have infused about $1.6 billion in economic development and created about 1,000 temporary full-time jobs. By contrast, the proposed northern Wisconsin iron mine which the Legislature is looking to accommodate is supposed to bring a $1.5 billion investment and 700 jobs.

Clean energy event draws dozens to Lakeshore Tech College

2011-10-17T09:36:00.000-05:00

From an article in the Sheboygan Press:

An event to highlight the potential of using clean energy in Wisconsin drew dozens of people Thursday to Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland.

The event, "Capturing Wisconsin's Clean Energy Potential: Benefits for Homeowners, Jobseekers and Students," included a campus renewal energy tour followed by a panel discussion with educators and area business and labor leaders who discussed the economic and environmental benefits of investing in clean energy.

It was sponsored by the Sierra Club of Wisconsin.

"Wisconsin has an opportunity to create thousands of jobs, clean up our air and catch up with other states and countries by modernizing our energy systems," said Shahla Werner, chapter director, Sierra Club–John Muir Chapter, in a press release issued by the organization on Friday.

"Right now we are sending over $16 billion dollars a year out of state to pay for fossil fuels," Werner said. "Recent decisions to curtail wind development and cut funding for Focus on Energy might be penny smart, but they are pound foolish. Focus on Energy has created over 24,000 small business private sector jobs since its creation just over a decade ago."

Focus on Energy programs save residents and homeowners $300 million per year, and that is money in your pocket that is staying in the state, unlike coal or natural gas that we bring in from out-of state," said Kevin Hogan, Focus on Energy outreach manager.

"Sometimes I wonder what really is considered a "green job." It's not just the people who put up wind turbines and solar panels, but it's also all the people who manufacture clean energy components and the people work at the business offices. But it goes beyond that to include healthcare workers and other service professionals, people who work at grocery stores and gas stations — everyone who economically benefits from interacting with this emerging work force" said Matt Boor, Lakeshore Technical College Wind Energy Instructor. . . .

PSC needs to establish firm wind rules

2011-10-12T11:07:00.000-05:00

From an editorial in the Manitowoc Herald Tribune Reporter:

It is becoming increasingly difficult to gauge which way the political winds are blowing when it comes to establishing rules on siting wind farms in Wisconsin.

The state Public Service Commission isn't close to coming up with a solution that would appease wind developers on the one hand and property owners, who claim turbines affect their health, on the other.

The Manitowoc County Board in September voted against a one-year moratorium on large wind turbine construction in the county, in effect saying it is growing impatient with the PSC.

Developers are growing increasingly impatient. Tim Polz, vice president of Midwest Wind Energy of Chicago, said his company was ready to develop a large wind farm in neighboring Calumet County but put it on hold because of the uncertainty about state siting rules. The company had spent three years and about $1 million developing the project.

"Right now, we just don't have a path forward in Wisconsin," Polz said. "The uncertainty is just too much now."

Into the mix comes State Sen. Frank Lasee, R-Bellevue, who earlier this week introduced a bill that would require a statewide moratorium on future wind turbines until the PSC receives a report from the Department of Health Services regarding the health impacts on people and animals.

It is uncertain how far such a report is away, or how long it would take.

Gov. Scott Walker earlier introduced a bill to increase — from 450 feet to 1,800 feet — setbacks for wind turbines from the nearest property line.

That proposal was lauded by wind industry critics and the real estate industry, but officials in the wind industry said the governor's proposal would ruin their business in Wisconsin.

Manitowoc County rejected in 2009 a developer's proposal to erect a wind farm in the Mishicot area, in part because of the lack of clear rules and oversight. It is becoming a familiar scenario as the PSC continues to drag its feet.

Firm standards and rules are needed — and quickly. The longer this drags out, the more likely it becomes that local ordinances will conflict with state standards. Local lawmakers are becoming increasingly impatient with the state on this issue.

The longer we go without a firm set of rules, the less confidence local municipalities will have in the PSC's ability to find a workable solution.

The PSC should build some measure of local control into its solution, but the agency must meet the challenge of becoming the go-to agency on the basic rules of wind tower siting.

Walker opposition to wind power shows “open for business” is just hot air

2011-10-11T09:17:00.002-05:00

From an editorial in The Northwestern, Oshkosh:

Since taking office in January, Gov. Scott Walker's administration has breathlessly reminded anyone who'd listen that Wisconsin is "Open for Business." That is beginning to sound like little more than hot air. The willingness of the administration to speed job creation appears tied to the willingness of job creators to see to it that the governor's campaign war chest is stocked enough to help him hold onto his job.

New rules for wind farms operating in Wisconsin were supposed to go into effect earlier this year. After the governor submitted a bill to dramatically increase the setback requirement, a legislative committee put the rules on hold and sent them back to the Public Service Commission for reconsideration, where they've sat in limbo since March.

Meanwhile, the state is losing out on millions of dollars in economic investment and hundreds of jobs, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. Midwest Wind Energy, for example, already invested about $1 million on a wind farm project in Calumet County. In all, it expected to spend more than $200 million on the project, and hire 150 to 200 construction workers over 18 months and five to eight permanent workers.

"Right now, we just don't have a path forward in Wisconsin," Tim Polz, vice president of Midwest Wind Energy, told the State Journal. "The uncertainty is just too much now."

According to the newspaper, five utility farm projects have been suspended or canceled since March, costing the state $1.6 billion in lost economic development and almost 1,000 temporary, full-time jobs.

It's a safe rule of thumb that most policy inconsistencies can be traced to campaign donors. The governor's more stringent property setbacks were supported by the real estate industry, which donated more than $598,000 to his campaign.

Walker refuses to break wind siting deadlock

2011-10-10T09:15:00.000-05:00

From an article by Clay Barbour in the Wisconsin State Journal:

Hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in potential economic development are stuck in limbo as officials continue to argue over new wind siting rules.

The new rules, more than a year in the making, were suspended earlier this year just before they were to go into effect. A legislative committee sent them back to the Public Service Commission, which was tasked with finding a compromise between both sides.

Now, some seven months later, PSC officials say they are no closer to a deal than when they started. Meanwhile, wind farm developers such as Midwest Wind Energy and Redwind Consulting are sitting on their hands, and their money.

“Right now, we just don’t have a path forward in Wisconsin,”said Tim Polz, vice president of Midwest Wind Energy, a company that suspended work earlier this year on a large wind farm in Calumet County. “The uncertainty is just too much now.”

Polz said Chicago-based Midwest already spent three years and about $1 million on the Calumet County project. In full, the company expected to spend upward of $200 million on the project, employ 150 to 200 construction workers for up to 18 months and five to eight people full time after that. . . .

Walker said he is aware of the stress caused by the delay but feels it is important any rules be fair to both sides, respecting property rights and the future of the wind industry.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Frank Lasee, R-De Pere, plans to introduce a bill Monday to call for a moratorium on wind turbines until the PSC receives a report from the Department of Health Services on possible health effects of wind farms.

“It is more important to fully vet, understand and communicate to the public the potential changes than the specific timing of when they are adopted and enacted.” Walker said. “It is important to note that whatever proposed changes are made, there are effects on a number of different areas of the economy.”

New North may be on leading edge of growing biodegester industry

2011-10-06T10:12:00.000-05:00

From an article by Rich Redman on Insight:

Don’t let waste go to waste. That’s Gary Radloff’s thinking. The interim director of the Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative (WBI) housed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison says “we have the opportunity to take waste and make something of it!”

Radloff, who recently keynoted a roundtable session called Biogas Opportunities in Wisconsin and The New North at Short Elliott Hendrickson in Appleton, is a firm believer that “this region of the country is well positioned to take advantage of the bio-economy – lots of historical experience with wood pulp and agriculture.”

Biogas is produced by the anaerobic (absence of oxygen) decomposition of organic matter. Waste such as cow manure, crop residue or byproducts from milk and cheese plants is fed into a closed vessel called a biodigester. There, microbes in the presence of heat and absence of oxygen break down the organic matter to create biogas, which is made up of 50 to 75 percent methane.

The methane can be then combusted for electricity and heat or upgraded for use in pipelines or transportation fuel. Depending on the digester technology chosen, there can be two other valuable byproducts of the decomposition process: nutrient-rich solids that can be used for fertilizer, animal bedding, particle board or fill dirt; and a non-odorous liquid rich in nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus that can be applied to farm fields as fertilizer.

The interest in biogas has grown significantly in the past 15 years, Radloff says. Germany is the world leader in this technology, with more than 6,000 plants.

In contrast, as of December 2010, there were only 152 farm scale biogas facilities in the United States. Wisconsin leads all states with 26 on-farm plants.

The Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative’s 2011 strategic plan points out that about 82 percent of Wisconsin’s energy comes from out-of-state sources. About $18 billion leaves the state each year to purchase energy for businesses, power to heat homes and fuel vehicles. The same research shows that, if the 23 million tons of manure produced each year were converted to natural gas, Wisconsin would offset 4.4 percent of its energy need – a $185 million underutilized opportunity.

ECOS-FV meeting, Oct. 6, 6:30 pm, Menasha Library

2011-10-03T09:45:00.000-05:00

The October meeting of ECOS-FV will focus its agenda on a discussion with the members of the Town of Menasha Sustainability Committee to develop an action plan regarding the proposed educational TV programing of sustainability topics as noted in the proposed attachment below drafted by Maury. This should be a great evening and everyone is encouraged to attend to help develop this program over the coming months! There is room for many talented folks to be involved in this effort!

This meeting will be held:
Location: Menasha Library, corner of Racine and First Streets
Time: 6:30 PM
Room: Company E Room, Lower Level
Date: Thursday, October 6th
This meeting is free and open to the public!

Study: Little, if any, scientific basis for claims of health threats from wind turbines

2011-09-30T12:49:00.002-05:00

From an article Ken Paulman on Midwest Energy News:

There’s no denying that wind turbines make noise. A giant rotor blade the size of an aircraft wing swooshing through the air is going to make a noticeable sound, particularly in a quiet, rural setting.

And it’s an often-repeated claim of wind farm opponents that this noise can lead to a whole host of health issues, including headaches, tinnitus, fatigue and sleep disturbances. Health fears, among other objections, have sometimes been cited by local governments as they establish large setbacks, moratoriums or other restrictions on wind farm development.

But a new study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters (PDF) suggests those claims are, at best, conflated. The analysis by four Swedish scientists reviews existing literature and finds that with the exception of some self-reported cases of sleep disturbance, there is no scientific or empirical basis to conclude that wind turbine noise causes health problems.

Among the works examined was Nina Pierpont’s oft-cited book Wind Turbine Syndrome, which relies on anecdotal evidence from 38 individuals living near wind farms, several of whom reported insomnia, tinnitus, nausea, dizziness and other symptoms. Pierpont concludes that the symptoms are a direct result of low-frequency noise from nearby turbines, but the Swedish researchers found the book “has several limitiations” which “make the conclusion unjustified.”

For example, the lack of acoustic measurements, no comparison group of people with no or low wind exposure and no investigation of the subjects prior to the wind turbines were constructed (prior health status was estimated retrospectively). In addition, the results, which are based on a very small sample, are contradicted by results from cross-sectional studies … which included a total of more than 1600 people.

Hop on the bus for renewable energy tour this Saturday

2011-09-29T12:07:00.001-05:00

GREEN BAY — Wisconsin Public Service, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Eland Electric are sponsoring a bus tour Saturday that takes participants to homes and businesses around the area that have implemented renewable energy options.

The tour leaves from International Brothers Electric Workers building at 2970 Greenbrier Road in Green Bay.

Tours run from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 - 4 p.m.

Participants are asked to arrive 30 minutes early and the cost is $5 for the bus tour and lunch.

Sign-up is at www.midwestrenew.org or (715) 592-6595. Seats are limited.

Wind Turbine Dedicated Near Random Lake

2011-09-26T10:03:00.001-05:00

from an article in The Sounder, September 22, 2011

An open house and dedication will be part of Sunday’s program to dedicate the 100-kilowatt wind turbine on the Preder farm west of Random Lake. The wind turbine was erected jointly by the Jeff and Kathy Preder family, and the Ed and Stephenie Ritger family, who are neighbors living on County Rd. I.

Sunday’s open house from 1-4 p.m. will have exhibits about renewable energy, tower inspections, farm tours and light refreshments. Among the exhibitors will be the Lakeshore Technical College wind energy program and the Random Lake High School Science Club. The 2 p.m. dedication ceremony will include a talk about the theology of environmental stewardship by Fr. Ed Eschweiler. Among his writings is the prayer, “Beatitudes for Stewards of Earth,” and the book, “Celebrating God’s Good Earth in Prayer, Discussion & Action.”

There will be comments by elected officials, including Cong. Tom Petri (R-Fond du Lac) and State Rep. Dan LeMahieu (R-Cascade). Northern Power Systems of Barre, Vermont, will give a jobs report. Visitors can park at the Preder Farm, N254 County Rd. I, west of Random Lake.

The turbine is expected to produce all the electrical power needed to run the Preder household and the farming operation with enough electricity left over to power 12 to 15 additional homes. That additional power will be sold to the We Energies utility.

Germantown company erects 100 ft Oshkosh-built wind turbine

2011-09-23T12:03:00.005-05:00

From an article on ControlDesign.com:

It was like the Egyptian obelisk going up in “The 10 Commandments,” only it was a lot faster, and the slaves were replaced by portable hydraulics. Oh, and there was a 32 ft diameter fan at the top.

This was the scene on a sunny, early-September afternoon as Wago installed a 100 ft tall wind turbine next to its U.S. headquarters in Germantown, Wis. And, as if the gleaming white tower wasn’t impressive enough, it was “tipped up” in an amazing 8-10 minutes by a portable hydraulic unit hooked up right next to the tower. After that, it took only another 15 minutes to bolt down the tower, hook up its electronics, and get it spinning in the breeze of Wisconsin’s famous “dairy air.”

Capable of generating 20 kW for Wago’s multi-function facility, the small-scale, commercial-grade VP-20 turbine was built by Renewegy in nearby Oshkosh, Wis. The turbine employs Wago’s 787 Series power supplies, 756 Series cables/connectors, 288 Series fuse blocks and backup capacitor module.

The wind turbine’s initial cost was $80,000, but state and federal incentives allow Wago to reduce its bill by about $35,000. Other VP-20s have been installed at SCA Tissue in Neenah, Wis., and at the North Texas Job Corp Center in McKinney, Texas. Renewegy reports that it can install single 20 kW units on farms, 40 kW dual units to serve schools, and 100 kW five-unit systems for small wind farms and commercial applications.

Manitowoc County Board votes against wind turbine moratorium

2011-09-21T14:25:00.000-05:00

From an article by Sarah Kloepping in the Manitowoc Herald Tribune:

MANITOWOC — The Manitowoc County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted against creating a moratorium on large wind turbines in the county.

The motion for the moratorium, which would have temporarily prevented construction of turbines with a capacity of more than 100 kilowatts, failed 14-8, with two supervisors absent and board chairman Paul Tittl abstaining because he owns stock in Broadwind Energy.

The ordinance was brought forward after the towns of Cooperstown, Mishicot and Two Creeks submitted petitions requesting the county enact a moratorium to allow time for the state Public Service Commission to establish statewide rules on the installation and use of wind energy systems or for a period of one year, whichever came first. . . .

Supervisor Paul Hansen said while he understands health concerns, he didn't support the moratorium because he wants to see the scientific evidence about the effects of wind turbines to make a decision.

"There are health concerns for every type of energy we currently produce in this country," he said. "There are concerns with coal plants. There is concern with gas and oil. There are nuclear concerns. We live on a planet where we make a judgment whether or not to accept that risk."

UW-Oshkosh partners in second dynamic biodigester project

2011-09-20T11:35:00.000-05:00

From a news release issued by the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh:

Wisconsin’s largest dairy farm will be home to one of Wisconsin’s most dynamic research, renewable energy production and public education facilities as part of an initiative involving the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s College of Letters and Science and UW Oshkosh Foundation.

On Aug. 24, the UW Oshkosh Foundation Board of Directors unanimously endorsed a proposal to pursue an innovative partnership with Milk Source’s Rosendale Dairy and renewable energy companies Viessmann Group and BIOFerm Energy Systems of Madison.

The proposal calls for construction of a large, wet anaerobic biodigester/biogas production facility at the Pickett dairy site. The plant would use the farm’s livestock manure to make energy. It would also operate as a dynamic, collaborative UW Oshkosh student-and-faculty biosolids research and teaching laboratory with an attached public education center. . . .

The multifaceted energy plant and facility will significantly enhance UW Oshkosh student learning and community outreach opportunities involving environmental and biosolids research. It will also:

* Feature a public education center operated by UW Oshkosh students and faculty. It will introduce Wisconsin K-12 students, educators and residents to the environmental science and engineering involved in harnessing a renewable energy source from a state-of-the-art, 21st Century dairy farming operation. Furthermore, UW Oshkosh is in the early stages of discussions with UW Extension and other constituent groups of using biodigester revenues to develop a new center on rural community development.
* Be available as a remote classroom and laboratory for UW Oshkosh microbiology, biology, environmental studies and chemistry classes. Revenues from the production and sale of energy will further fund the enhancement and growth of laboratories throughout the institution, including the University’s Environmental Research and Innovation Center. The ERIC is home to the institution’s collaborative, student-and-faculty aquatic and sustainability research initiatives.
* Fund a new student scholarship program under development by the UW Oshkosh Foundation.

Solar Panels Installed At the Kress Library by NWTC

2011-09-19T10:53:00.001-05:00

From an article written by Casey Fryda on the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College website

NWTC Solar Energy Technology students helped a library in De Pere adopt solar energy.

Students in the Photovoltaics – Design and Site class evaluated the site of the Kress Library and presented recommendations for including solar energy panels in the library's energy system.

Under the instruction of instructor Michael Troge, the students met with library staff, collected information on energy use at the facility, and performed a solar site assessment. They used the information they collected to put together proposals for solar systems on the building. These proposals included specifications and cost estimates. They also made a presentation to the Library Board of Directors.

NWTC was one of several partners in the project. The story below was provided by the Center for Sustainability Living at Kress; the Brown County Library; and SEEDs for De Pere, which is part of the De Pere Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

UW-Oshkosh Receives Award for New Biodigester

2011-09-12T10:04:00.001-05:00

The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh recently received the 2011 Silver Waste-to-Energy Excellence Award from the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) for its innovative and successful efforts in solid waste management.

The award recognizes the University’s first-in-the-nation, commercial-scale dry fermentation anaerobic biodigester.

Load-in of the digester recently began, and energy production is expected to begin soon. The renewable energy facility includes heat and power generators, which initially will produce up to 5 percent of the campus’ electricity and heat.

The majority of the 8,000 tons of organic biowaste used in the biodigester will be provided by campus and community sources. At Blackhawk Commons, food scraps will be collected in separate dumpsters to help fuel the biodigester. At Reeve Union, food waste will initially be gathered in the kitchen and will eventually be collected from dining areas, said Marty Strand, assistant director for dining operations at UW Oshkosh.

“This is a true sustainability award for the campus, as the SWANA competition covers the technology, economics, community relations, worker safety, environmental advantages and aesthetics of the plant,” said Mike Lizotte, sustainability director at UW Oshkosh. “They looked at how UW Oshkosh balances financial, environmental and social concerns as we find new ways to create renewable energy and handle waste.”

Each year, SWANA’s Excellence Awards Program recognizes outstanding solid waste programs and facilities that advance the practice of environmentally and economically sound solid waste management. Programs also must demonstrate that they are fiscally and environmentally responsible through their compliance with all applicable federal, state and local regulations.

The award was accepted by UW Oshkosh representatives recently at a solid waste conference.

The dry fermentation anaerobic biodigester is the first digester for UW Oshkosh. Plans for a wet anaerobic biodigester/biogas production facility partnership at Rosendale Dairy, the state’s largest dairy farm in Pickett, were recently announced. With appropriate contracts, permits and financing arrangements in place, ground is projected to be broken on the facility in spring 2012, with a projected biodigester startup in 2013.

Article written by Amanda Wimmer

UW-Oshkosh continues to set the gold standard for UW campus sustainability.

2011-09-09T10:57:00.000-05:00

ECOS meets Sept. 1, Menasha Public Library

2011-08-30T11:44:00.003-05:00

ECOS Meets with Town of Menasha Sustain Committee
At the August meeting of ECOS-FV, we discussed the future form of ECOS-FV and what roles and activities its membership would support.

We are happy to report that the outcome of this meeting was:
1) To establish a closer relationship with the Town of Menasha’s Sustainability Committee, blending the community actions of the Town with the educational programs of ECOS and using the broader advertising capacity of the Town to enhance attendance and generate broader community appeal and interest.
2) To maintain the ECOS Blog Site and the Email Information Network as is: Our continued thanks to both Ed Blume and Connie Kanitz for this.
Please join us as we meet with the members of the Town of Menasha’s Sustainability Committee to review the opportunities and activities that we can jointly achieve…

Place: Menasha Public Library, Company E Room in the lower level
Date: Thursday, September 1st
Time: 6:30 PM

Meeting is Free and Open to the Public

Call 920-722-6438 for more information

Fox Valley water resources: What do we have to lose?

2011-08-29T09:45:00.000-05:00

Join Sierra Club Conservation Chair Will Stahl on Thursday, September 8 at 7:00 PM at the Bubolz Nature Preserve, 4815 N. Lynndale Drive, Appleton (map) for Fox Valley Water Resources: What do we have to Lose?,an interactive discussion with local community groups and concerned citizens about the outstanding and exceptional resource waters in northeast Wisconsin, as well as factory farm pollution and other threats to our water quality.

We'll also take some time to discuss the need for increased oversight of polluters that can help protect our lakes, rivers, and streams, including targeted water monitoring, stronger regulations on waste spreading and air pollutants, and increased incentives for sustainable farming. For more information, please contact Will Stahl at: wrsy55@sbcglobal.net.

Wind turbine to produce electricity for Random Lake farm

2011-08-26T09:37:00.001-05:00

From an article by Bob Petrie in the Sheboygan Press:

TOWN OF SHERMAN — It's a tall order for the 120-foot wind turbine that towers over the Preder farm on county Highway I just outside Random Lake.

The turbine, installed this week on a small hill behind the farmhouse, is expected to produce all the power needed to run the household and the farming operation, with a little bit left over for the neighbors.

"We're trying to make it so that we're not relying on everybody else for energy," said Mike Preder, 32, who helps his father, Jeff, and mother, Kathy, raise growth hormone free Piedmontese cattle and free-range chickens on the 140 acre property.

Ed Ritger, a Random Lake attorney and the Preders' next-door neighbor, is financing the $500,000 tower, with about half of the cost covered through grants offered from the federal government and Focus on Energy. Ritger, who owns a hobby farm, looks at the turbine as an investment that will pay for itself during a 10- to 15-year period, and be around to produce energy for a lot longer.

"It's an investment, but it's also an opportunity to send a message that we need to do more renewable energy," said Ritger, 64. "That's a message I've been preaching for a long time. So my wife and I are putting some dollars behind that message."

The building in Random Lake where Ritger's law firm is housed was equipped about a decade ago with solar panels. The panels power the building, and the excess electricity goes back to the power grid. He thought it would be a good idea to try building a turbine out in the country, and the Preders were receptive to the idea.

"We've been neighbors for 40 years, and you can't put a wind turbine in the valley, (you) put it on the best hill that you've got," Ritger said. "So that's how this joint venture was put together; the Preders providing the site and the Ritgers providing the capital."

The Preders, whose energy bills run about $400 a month, worked with Kettle View Renewable Energy, a Silver Lake firm, to acquire and install the wind turbine. The company, which has been in business since 2006, has put in turbines for the Cascade wastewater plant and at Random Lake High School. The turbine, with its 34½-foot long blades, that serves the Preder property can produce up to 120,000-kilowatt hours per year, about 30,000 more than the Preders usually consume annually. The turbine generates energy in wind speeds of 7 mph or greater.

Big ball of fire heats water for UW-Oshkosh

2011-08-25T12:42:00.001-05:00

From an article by Doug Zellmer in the Appleton Post-Crescent:

OSHKOSH — That big ball of fire in the sky is creating some green for the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

The installation of 120 solar thermal panels on the roofs of four campus buildings — Albee Hall, Blackhawk Commons, Taylor residence hall and the heating plant — are harnessing energy from the sun.

Collectively they make up the largest solar thermal system in the state.

In addition, solar and photovoltaic panels are in the final phase of installation at the new Sage Hall, the $40 million four-story academic building that will open for classes this fall. The building is expected to save about $182,000 a year in energy costs, predominately through energy efficient state-of-the-art construction.

"This is one of our campus planning goals. We want to reduce the consumption of carbon-based fuels like coal and natural gas," said Steve Arndt, director of facilities management at UW-Oshkosh.

The cost for the solar thermal panel project for the four buildings, excluding Sage Hall, which is being done by a separate contractor, is about $700,000 and includes pumps, piping, tanks, controllers, roofing work, labor and the solar thermal panels.

However, UW-Oshkosh isn't paying a penny for it. Regenesis Solar is paying for and are owners of the thermal system on the four buildings.

It sells the thermal energy on a metered basis to the state.

Although the estimated annual reduction in energy costs was not immediately available, solar thermal panels installed on the four buildings are expected to generate a natural gas savings of $10,000 annually, said Mike Lizotte, director of sustainability for UW-Oshkosh.

He lauded the solar thermal panel system and its versatility.

"One is going to wash dishes, one is for showers in a dorm, one is to heat a pool and one is heating

County board in Iowa OKs wind farm ordinance with 1,000-foot setback

2011-08-24T11:48:00.000-05:00

From an article by Rob Daniel in the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

Johnson County is a step closer to having its own wind farms after the Johnson County Board of Supervisors approved a new ordinance governing their use Thursday.

The new ordinance would allow for a commercial wind energy facility to be built on agricultural land as long as the turbine did not exceed 55 decibels in noise level, was at least 1,000 feet from an occupied building and each turbine had a permit approved by the supervisors. The owner of the turbine also would be responsible for paying for any damage to roads caused by the installation and maintenance of the machines, according to the ordinance.

Supervisor Janelle Rettig said it was a matter of being more energy efficient.

"I think we have to do more to be energy efficient and go on an energy diet," she said. "If we're unwilling to (allow wind farms), we'd better be ready for a nuclear plant or a coal-fired plant in this area."

The passage of the ordinance comes on the heels of Chicago-based PNE WIND USA Inc. announcing in February plans for a 3,000 acre, 30 megawatt wind farm that will open in late 2012 or early 2013 in Solon.

Keith Kurtz, PNE's project manager for the planned wind farm, said the turbines are quiet and typically have brought in more money from rental of the half acre of land used for the machine than in planting a crop.

"I'm in three different projects, and I love it," he said.

The passage of the ordinance, which supervisors said was being developed before PNE announced its plans, did not come without hang-ups, however. Several neighbors of the proposed PNE wind farm said they were concerned about the noise and potential health effects from the turbines.

However, supervisors said they visited wind farms Aug. 1 in Story County and said they found them to be relatively quiet. Their main hang-up was whether the turbines should be set back from occupied buildings more than 1,000 feet and how much control they should have on the permit process rather than the Johnson County Engineer's Office.

In the end, the board voted unanimously to pass the ordinance.

Landfill installs renewable energy

2011-08-23T16:23:00.000-05:00

From an article in the Appleton Post-Crescent:

Hickory Meadows landfill in Hilbert has unlocked its green energy potential.

A plant installed on site will produce renewable energy from the waste, Veolia Energy North America announced Tuesday.

The facility, known as the gas-to-energy project, had been under construction since December 2010. It will remove all waste and inject that dirty methane haze produced at the landfill into its combustion engines to generate electric power.

Previously, the gas — half methane and half carbon dioxide — which is produced by bacteria digesting the waste, was flared up at the landfill.

Veolia said the gas-to-energy project has the capacity to generate 42,000-megawatt hours of renewable electricity annually, enough to power 2,800 homes.

The energy company plans to sell all the power to Wisconsin Public Service. Wisconsin Public Service Corp. in Green Bay serves about 437,000 electrical customers and 317,000 natural gas customers in northern and central Wisconsin and a portion of Michigan's upper peninsula.

The green technology is a positive step for Veolia, which noted the state's goal of having 10 percent of its retail energy needs come from renewable sources by 2015.

Wind tower sales continue to grow for Manitowoc company

2011-08-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Sales of wind towers made in Manitowoc and Texas rose 48% in the second quarter for Broadwind Energy Inc., the firm said Friday.

Sales of wind towers totaled $24.5 million in the second quarter, up $8 million, or 48%, from last year. For the first six months of the year, sales were nearly doubled, to $52.7 million from $28.6 million.

Broadwind Energy is based in Naperville, Ill., and operates the tower factory in Manitowoc formerly known as Tower Tech. That factory produced towers now under construction for the We Energies wind farm northeast of Madison, the Glacier Hills Wind Park. It also built the towers for the Shirley Wind farm that opened last year south of Green Bay.

Towers accounted for nearly two-thirds of the sales for Broadwind Energy, which also operates gearing and service businesses that serve the wind market as well as the oil and gas industry. That side of the business is growing with a surge in domestic oil and gas production.

Paper mill prepares to produce biomass

2011-08-05T16:45:00.000-05:00

From an article by Aaron Martin on UpperMichigansSource.com:

QUINNESEC -- A $43 million makeover for the Verso Paper Mill in Quinnesec is expected to be completed this fall.

The renewable energy project will convert useless wood scraps into biomass to power the paper mill.

The new energy source is both environmentally friendly and will meet more than 95 percent of the mills energy needs, saving more than $7 million a year. More than 80 jobs were also created during the construction phase of the project.

"This investment is huge for the economy of the U.P. and the greater northern Wisconsin and southern U.P. area where we draw our wood supply from," said Verso Communications Director Mark Pontti. "Putting people to work in the woods, expanding our capacity to, again, take in that supply but also indirectly the jobs that are created."

UWO still tops in state for solar thermal panels

2011-08-04T16:10:00.004-05:00

FdL couple harnesses solar power, sells it back to Alliant Energy

2011-08-02T12:34:00.000-05:00

From an article by Monica Walk in the Fond du Lac Reporter:

Can you imagine watching your electric meter roll backward — legally?

Jeanne and John McDowell know that delight, thanks to the solar panels they installed on their home’s roof last fall. The 18 panels on the back of their home generate more power than the couple consumes and the excess is sold back to Alliant Energy.

“We generate far more than we are using,” Jeanne McDowell said. “The money we earn pays for our electricity, fees, charges and taxes, and some of our gas usage. This summer, we have earned a two-month credit and will apply that toward future bills.”

The McDowells are among three households and one business in Fond du Lac currently generating solar power, said Alliant Associate Product Manager in Renewables Tracy Vail. It’s a small but growing group, Vail said.

A bi-directional digital meter installed in the McDowells’ laundry room clocks the electricity produced, as well as the amount the McDowells use. An inverter mounted in the same location hooks into the main fuse box and changes the current from direct (DC) to alternating (AC) for use in the home.

Nearby, the McDowells keep a daily log of their energy creation. By mid-July, they had saved 55,000 pounds of CO2 and logged more than 3,300 kilowatt hours since the panels went live. For comparison, a watt is the gauge of how much energy an appliance burns in one hour, and a compact fluorescent bulb burns 12-14 watts in an hour.

“Eleven a.m. is the best time” for energy generation, John McDowell noted. “And a cool, sunny day creates more electricity than a hot, sunny day when the UV is blocked.”

Environmental conservatives
Their life experiences and current living situation influenced the McDowells’ decision to install the solar panels. Together, the couple has lived and worked abroad as teachers for a number of years in Germany and Japan, where solar panels may be compulsory in all new construction by 2030, according to a May report in the Nikkei business daily.

“We’ve lived in countries where energy is more expensive,” Jeanne noted. “And, we’ve always had an environmental conscience.”

UW-Oshkosh professor wins bad fiction prize

2011-08-01T16:24:00.002-05:00

A little humor from UPI.com:

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 26 (UPI) -- San Jose State University in California announced a Wisconsin woman won the 2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest with an intentionally poorly written sentence.

The university said Sue Fondrie, an associate professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, won the 29th annual competition, which calls upon participants to compose the worst possible opening sentence for an imaginary novel.

"Cheryl's mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories," Fondrie's entry read.

The university said Fondrie's sentence was the shortest grand prize winner in the history of the contest.

The Bulwer-Lytton prize is named for Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, who began his novel "Paul Clifford" with the famous opening sentence, "It was a dark and stormy night."

Meet to explore the future of ECOS-FV, Aug. 4, Menasha

2011-07-29T12:30:00.000-05:00

The August 4th Meeting of ECOS-FV will explore the potential of the ECOS organization and discuss a consideration of its dissolution in the near future.

We believe we need to hold this discussion as attendance at our educational presentations and planning meetings have been low for quite some time. People seem to have found other ways to obtain information and show their support for sustainable activities and projects in the community.

Yet we also want to highlight that this end can be averted if we have members that want to “take up the torch of the fire soul” and provide the coalition with new energy and direction. The genesis for such a potential renewal lies in the fact that the ECOS organization has strong name recognition in the Valley, a great communication network, a large e-mail base and a well maintained blog site (thanks to Ed Blume at Renew Wisconsin)!

We sincerely hope to see you and hear your thoughts on this important topic…

Date: Thursday, August 4th
Place: Menasha Library, Company E Room in lower level
Time: 6:30 PM
All meetings are Free and Open to the Public!

ECOS Meeting Agenda – August 4
1) Welcome
2) Review past accomplishments of ECOS
3) Discuss the future of ECOS
4) Adjourn

Unique two-bladed turbine makes Wisconsin debut in Winnebago County

2011-07-28T11:03:00.001-05:00

Immediate release

July 28, 2011

More information
Randy Faller – rfaller@wi.rr.com
Maureen Faller - maureen.fallergmail.com
Kettle View Renewable Energy
http://www.kettleviewre.com
920.994.9433

Unique Two-bladed Turbine Debuts in Wisconsin

Wind turbines come with three blades, right? Not the unique Scottish-built Gaia turbine installed near Neenah by Kettle View Renewable Energy, LLC of Random Lake.

“You might do a double-take when you first see it,” admits Randy Faller, owner of Kettle View.

The electricity production from the first two-blader installed in Wisconsin and fourth in the United States has been “incredible,” according to Faller, “even during last June, when winds were really light.” And it’s quieter than other small turbines.

At wind speeds between 9 and 14 miles per hour, the 11 kilowatt Gaia in the Town of Clayton, Winnebago County, will out perform a turbine rated at 20 kilowatts. With a little more fine-tuning, Faller expects even better production. “It’s only been up a month and a half,” Faller said.

“No single turbine on the market fills every need at every site. Every brand of turbines has advantages and disadvantages. The Gaia (pronounced GUY-ah) works well in locations with lower wind speeds,” commented Faller, “like we have at many Wisconsin locations.”

Part of the Gaia’s generating power comes from longer blades than those on a three-bladed turbine. With a rotor diameter of 42.6 feet, the two-bladed Gaia can capture up to 80% more energy, according to the U.S. distributors Web site (www.tacoelectronics.com).

“Hundreds of Gaia’s have been installed throughout Europe since the turbine was first developed in Denmark in the 1990s,” explained Faller.

Equipped with a durable gearbox, well-built mechanics, and streamlined design, Faller expects the Gaia to perform reliably during Wisconsin’s winters.

However, Wisconsin’s future for wind energy doesn’t look bright for Gaia or any other turbine, according to Faller, who calls the current situation “scary.”

The Legislature suspended statewide standards for permitting wind energy systems. “The small wind section of those standards was a great thing. Towns and counties could use it as a guide. Now everything’s open to interpretation when a landowner applies for a permit,” Faller said.

He also expects his business to be hurt by budget cuts imposed by the Legislature on Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s ratepayer-funded energy efficiency and renewable programs. Individual utility support for customer-sited renewable systems has also been cut back.

“My wife and I built the business to the point where we employ three other full-time employees, one part-timer, and occasionally subcontract some work. If we don’t have work in Wisconsin, we’ll go out of state. But why should I have to leave my own state to work?”

Prior to starting Kettle View in 2006, Faller “got tired of sitting behind a desk. It’s exciting,” he says, “to make our own power right in your own backyard.”

Burning Questions: Making a case for renewable energy

2011-07-27T13:44:00.000-05:00

From an article in the Appleton Post Crescent:

A report released last week by the Union of Concerned Scientists, called "A Bright Future for the Heartland," contends that Wisconsin and other Midwestern states can revitalize their economy and save their consumers money by making the kind of investments recommended by a group of Midwestern governors a few years ago.

The report was the topic of a discussion Wednesday at the Fox Valley Technical College in Grand Chute — and was also the topic of our Newsmakers online interview show at postcrescent.com.

The guests were Jeff Deyette, a renewable energy analyst with the Union, and Jeff Ehlers, the president of Renewegy, an Oshkosh company that makes small-scale wind turbines.

Here's an edited transcript of the interview:

What are the findings of the report?

Deyette: We believe that there's tremendous economic opportunity for Wisconsin and the rest of the Midwest by investing in renewable energy technologies like wind, solar, bioenergy resources such as switchgrass and investing in energy efficiency.

Our analysis looked at, what if Wisconsin and the rest of the Midwestern states significantly increased the policies they have for investing in those technologies?

What we found was, not surprisingly, that these technologies in addition to providing more local, cleaner energy sources for the state would deliver some significant economic benefits — about 11,000 new jobs by 2030, $2.7 billion in new investment paying for renewable energy projects, making our homes and businesses more energy efficient.

Consumers win out in this policy, as well. Because of the investment in energy efficiency, homes, businesses and industrial users can save as much as $6 billion over a 20-year period. The typical household would see savings averaging about $100 per year. It's good for business, it's good for job creation and it's good for consumers.

National Study Vindicates Wisconsin’s Clean Energy Policies

2011-07-20T15:41:00.002-05:00

Immediate release
July 18, 2011

More information
Michael Vickerman
Executive Director
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

National Study Vindicates Wisconsin’s Clean Energy Policies

Nearly a decade of forward-looking strategies propelled investments in Wisconsin’s clean jobs economy above other Midwest states, according to an economic study issued by The Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan public policy organization in Washington, D.C.

Reviewing data gathered between 2003 and 2010, the Brookings analysis pegged the number of clean economy jobs in the state at 76,858, a net increase of nearly 4,000. Measured as a percentage, Wisconsin’s clean economy accounted for 2.7% of all jobs in the state, compared with 2.5% for Iowa, 2.1% for Minnesota, 1.9 % for both Indiana and Michigan, and 1.8% for Illinois. Overall, Wisconsin ranked 8th among all states and the District of Columbia in the relative size of its clean economy.

The report categorizes clean economy jobs as those in energy efficiency and renewable energy; sustainable forestry products; recycling and reuse; waste management and treatment; organic food and farming; energy efficient appliance and building manufacturing; and more.

“Clearly, Wisconsin’s commitment to clean energy has paid dividends, attracting new businesses and creating high-paying jobs that could have easily gone elsewhere,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide organization advocating for public policies and private initiatives that advance renewable energy.

These policies and initiatives include the establishment of Focus on Energy, the region’s first ratepayer-funded energy efficiency and renewable energy program, attractive buyback rates offered by utilities for renewable energy, and innovative incentives to encourage customer installation of renewables.

In addition, Wisconsin’s adoption of a 10% renewable energy standard back in 2006 spurred new utility-scale installations built by skilled tradesmen employed by local contractors. During the study period, the number of wind-related jobs in Wisconsin doubled from less than 450 to 900.

As documented in the Brookings report, the wages for these clean economy jobs run higher than the statewide average ($37,931 vs. $35,906).

“Unfortunately, Wisconsin’s clean economy is in danger of losing a good deal of its steam as a result of policy rollbacks and funding cutbacks in the renewable energy arena,” Vickerman said. “The short-sighted attacks we’ve seen in 2011 could throw the state’s clean economy into reverse next year.”

So far this year, the Legislature has reduced funding for Focus on Energy, suspended the statewide rule regulating the permitting of wind turbines, and weakened the state’s renewable energy standard by allowing utilities to count Canadian hydropower toward their requirements.

“On top of that, We Energies, the state’s largest utility, announced that it will discontinue what had been an effective renewable energy initiative,” Vickerman said. “Among other accomplishments, it was instrumental in enabling Helios USA to build a solar-electric manufacturing facility in Milwaukee’s Menomonee River Valley.” The plant now employs 50 workers.

END

RENEW Wisconsin 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. More information on RENEW’s Web site at www.renewwisconsin.org.

Northeast Wisconsin Climate Change Workshop, September 13, 2011

2011-07-19T11:31:00.000-05:00

Safeguarding our economy, environment, and quality of life

A workshop to build local and regional climate planning capacity in the Great Lakes

Who Should Attend: Planners and other professionals addressing land use, public health, stormwater, emergency preparedness, and natural resource management issues.

Workshops include
•Climate change impacts in the Great Lakes region
•Economic benefits of climate planning
•Planning processes and strategies
•Tools, data, and resources
•Regional examples of climate planning
•Stakeholder engagement strategies
•Strategies for incorporating resilience into current planning initiatives

Empowered: Clean Energy in Northeast Wisconsin

2011-07-18T12:32:00.001-05:00

Empowered: Clean Energy in Northeast Wisconsin

The Union of Concerned Scientists is holding the panel discussion in conjunction with Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) to show what clean energy can do for Northeast Wisconsin.

The panel will take place on Wednesday, July 20, 4:00–6:00 p.m. at FVTC: D.J. Bordini Business & Industry Center-Conference Center (room 103), 5 Systems Drive, Appleton, WI 54912-2277. The panel will feature Jeff Deyette, senior energy analyst and co-author of UCS’s new report A Bright Future for the Heartland: Powering the Midwest Economy with Clean Energy. He will be joined by local sustainability educators, business spokespeople, and government officials, including Tom Nelson, County Executive, Outagamie County and Linda Bartelt, Executive Director, Northeast Wisconsin Educational Resource Alliance

Event Features:
♦ Displays from local colleges, businesses and organizations
that promote clean energy
♦ Optional tours of Fox Valley Technical College's
Sustainable Technology Center

Location:
FVTC's D.J. Bordini Center
5 Systems Drive, Appleton

For More Information:
Contact Allison Donnelly at adonnelly@ucsusa.org or (312) 578-1750

Wind farm plan gets green light -- in Illinois

2011-07-15T16:37:00.005-05:00

While Wisconsin's hostility toward wind generation kills projects in the state, wind generation projects continue to create jobs and energy independence in surrounding states, according to this article in The News Gazzette, Champaign, IL:

DANVILLE — The Vermilion County Board authorized construction of the first wind turbine farm in the county Tuesday night despite objections from several local residents and incomplete information in the developer's application.

The 27-member board voted 21-1, with four members absent and one seat vacant, to grant Chicago-based Invenergy a building permit to construct 104 wind turbines in west central Vermilion County.

Invenergy also submitted on July 1 its application to the Champaign County zoning board for a special-use permit to build 30 wind turbines as part of the same project in east central Champaign County. Invenergy officials said they hope construction in Vermilion County can start by the end of the year.

The lone no vote at Tuesday's Vermilion County Board meeting came from member Terry Stal, D-District 4, who said after the meeting that he voted that way because the county should have all its agreements with Invenergy in place before the permit is issued. He said his vote reflected a procedural objection.

Fond du Lac Energy Tour, July 29

2011-07-13T16:53:00.000-05:00

A guided bus tour of businesses using cutting-edge technologies and land use concepts to lower costs, protect natural resources, & strengthen the local economy.

Who Should Attend: Government officials; Business & industry representatives; Conservation group delegates; Interested local residents.

Date: Friday, July 29, 2011 - Time: 8:30am — 12:00pm

Cost: $10 (cash or check to UW-Extension)

Departing From & Returning To: UW-Fond du Lac (north parking lot), 400 University Dr., Fond du Lac

To Register Contact: 920/929-3173 or diana.tscheschlok@ces.uwex.edu. Space is limited.

Can’t Wait? Take a virtual tour online at www.FDLHealthyAir.com.

Visited on the Tour:

Harris-Morris Residence
This house is equipped with a tankless water heater and a geothermal pond system that provides both heat and air conditioning. Talk to the family about how they chose these technologies and their experiences using them.

Wildlife Acres
Lot orientations in this subdivision maximize possibilities for houses to be built with passive solar and geothermal systems. A stocked retention pond can be used for fishing and watering lawns.

Mid-States Aluminum Corporation
This company has saved $86,000 per year on energy costs thanks to Lean Six Sigma techniques and a volunteer Energy Team. Learn about the process they used to involve associates in conservation projects and the unexpected places they found savings.

J. F. Ahern
Tour their LEED Gold headquarters and see the “greenwater” system that captures and reuses rainwater, an efficient ice storage system for cooling, and the atrium with unique indoor air quality and lighting features.

"Play Again" Documentary Screening - TONIGHT!

2011-07-12T09:16:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, July 12th 7:00-8:30pm
Bubolz Nature Preserve Auditorium

"Through the voices of children and leading experts including journalist Richard Louv, sociologist Juliet Schor, environmental writer Bill McKibben, educators Diane Levin and Nancy Carlsson-Paige, neuroscientist Gary Small, parks advocate Charles Jordan, and geneticist David Suzuki, PLAY AGAIN investigates the consequences of a childhood removed from nature and encourages action for a sustainable future.

"It is a powerful film, revealing that we are allowing our young people to be so profoundly disconnected from the natural world and denying them the opportunity to fully develop their senses. How uplifting to see these young adults grow before our eyes under the nurturing and stimulating effects of their wilderness experience. We are left with the redeeming message that it is not too late! We can and must unplug our children, give them the access to the natural world that is so essential to their development, and restore childhood!" Robin Mann, President, The Sierra Club.

The screening is free but seating is limited, so register now to guarantee a spot. Please contact Josh Bray to register or for more information at 920-731-6041 or at www.bubolzpreserve.org

Wisconsin’s Widening War on Renewable Energy

2011-07-11T14:27:00.000-05:00

Dramatic Slowdown in Market Activity Anticipated
By Michael Vickerman
July 11, 2011

What started out as an opening salvo from the Walker Administration to shackle large-scale wind projects has in six months turned into a systematic campaign to dismantle the state policies that support renewable energy development. Joining the executive and legislative branches in pursuing policy rollbacks and/or funding cutbacks against renewables are various utilities and, surprisingly, Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s ratepayer-funded energy efficiency and renewable programs.

Since January 1st, Wisconsin has seen a series of assaults against utility-scale projects and smaller renewable systems serving both residences and businesses. These include the following actions:

The Legislature suspended PSC 128, the statewide rule developed by the Public Service Commission last year in response to a law passed by the Legislature in 2009 ordering the agency to establish uniform standards for permitting wind energy systems. Since the March 1 suspension vote, wind development in Wisconsin has slowed to a standstill.
The Legislature adopted SB 81, a bill that RENEW Wisconsin describes as the “Outsource Renewable Energy to Canada Act.” SB 81 allows Wisconsin utilities to meet their renewable energy requirements beginning in 2015 with electricity generated from large hydropower plants in other states and Canada. By allowing Wisconsin utilities to become even more dependent on energy imports than they are today, SB 81 turns Wisconsin’s Renewable Energy Standard on its head. Importing large-scale hydropower exports the very dollars that could have been used to harness Wisconsin’s renewable energy resources.
We Energies, the state’s largest electric utility, abruptly decided in May to walk away from an agreement with RENEW to dedicate $60 million over a 10-year period in support of renewable energy development in its territory. The decision came in the sixth year of this program. We Energies plans to reallocate the unspent dollars (totaling about $27 million) to general operations.
Green Bay-based Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) instituted in April a new net energy policy designed to discourage new customer-sited renewable energy systems. Until recently WPS had been paying its customers the full retail rate for electricity that flows back on the wires, which is now about 12 cents/kWh. But under the new rate, WPS only pays three cents/kWh for electricity exported to the grid. Moreover, the utility calculates the net each month, which penalizes customers whose loads vary significantly depending on seasonal factors. Right now, the new policy only covers systems installed after March 2011, but WPS has said that it plans to apply that rate to older systems effective January 2013.
In its deliberations on the biennial state budget passed in June, the Legislature appended a rider to tie Focus on Energy’s annual budget to a percentage (1.2% of gross utility revenues). This action will mean a cut of $20 million in the program’s 2012 budget relative to this year’s allocation of $120 million. The Focus on Energy program provides grants and cash-back awards supporting customer investments in solar electric, solar thermal systems, small wind, biogas and biomass energy systems.
Last, but certainly not least, as of July 1, Focus on Energy stopped accepting applications for business program incentives to help customers install renewable energy systems. These incentives, which average about $7 million per year, had been available since 2002 to businesses, farms, schools, local governments and other nonprofit customers. It is not clear when these incentives will be resumed and in what quantity.

This one-two punch of policy rollbacks and funding cutbacks has cast a pall over the state’s renewable energy marketplace. At this year’s Energy Fair in Custer, Wisconsin, the prevailing mood of contractors and exhibitors was one of bewilderment tinged with anger. It is dawning on these companies that their state, which once took pride in its efforts to nurture a thriving renewable energy market, is becoming an inhospitable place to do business. The transformation is occurring with stunning speed; no business is likely to be spared from this abrupt reversal of fortune, which will hit home soon and continue for several months, if not years.

At this moment, however, the Wisconsin renewable energy landscape is humming with installation activity. New wind turbines are soaring above cornfields in Columbia County, where construction crews and operating engineers from Appleton-based Boldt Construction and Brownsville-based Michels Wind Energy assemble what will become Wisconsin’s largest wind generation facility. The towers for the Glacier Hills wind energy project are being fabricated at Tower Tech in Manitowoc. Solar hot water systems now crown the rooftops of new apartment and university buildings, while solar PV panels mounted on 14-foot-tall poles rise above a farm field in Dane County to power Epic Systems’ ground source heat pump system. A cranberry company in Monroe County is about to become the second of its kind to rely on a pair of small wind turbines for its electrical needs. Meanwhile, all across Wisconsin one can find contractors building this year’s crop of bioenergy systems that convert the effluent from dairy farms, cheese producers and wastewater treatment plants into a baseload source of electricity.

Indeed, this wave of projects, fueled principally by funding commitments made in previous years and the early part of this year, should keep contractors and installers busy through the end of 2011. Though an observer unfamiliar with this year’s travails might be deceived by this show of vitality, both installers and advocates know that this activity can’t be sustained for long without a fresh supply of oxygen in the form of policy and funding initiatives. But until state government recognizes the folly of its war against renewable energy and changes course on energy policy, the rollbacks of 2011 will suck much of the oxygen out of next year’s renewable energy marketplace, setting it up for significant contraction in the years that follow.

How Wisconsin benefits from shrinking its renewable energy business community and becoming even more dependent on finite supplies of fossil energy imported from afar is a question worth posing to our political leaders. In our view, that approach is guaranteed to turn Wisconsin into an economic backwater. Is this what they hope to achieve? Probably not. But the toll on the state goes beyond the jobs that weren’t created, the investments from overseas that went to other states, and the tax revenues that failed to materialize as projected.

An even bigger casualty of these rollbacks is Wisconsin’s ability to project itself as a center of consistency and stability, a place where policy changes affecting businesses occur gradually and over time. Not long ago, Wisconsin political leaders were capable of working on complex legislative matters in a low-key and bipartisan manner. An example of that is the Energy Efficiency and Renewables Law (2005 Act 141) signed into law in March 2006, which increased Wisconsin’s Renewable Energy Standard to 10% by 2015 and protected Focus on Energy from future budget raids. That law created what seemed at the time to be a durable framework for enabling renewable energy resources to play an expanded role in the state’s energy future.

However, it is now painfully evident that the political consensus that created the five-year-old law has evaporated. The resulting vacuum has emboldened incoming legislators to fix their crosshairs on the policy mechanisms supporting investment in renewable energy. With the active assistance of politically powerful interests like the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group, these legislators are now attacking Wisconsin’s pro-renewable energy policies in a manner resembling a wave of Formosan termites going through a house.

What has happened to Wisconsin’s energy policy here is a microcosm of the radically polarized political dynamic that has, unfortunately, become “the new normal” in this state. In this environment, confrontation is celebrated and compromise is shunned. Politics in Wisconsin has become a roller-coaster ride that is heavy on the sharp turns and violent dives, and light on the straightaways and gentle grades. And, with the Senate recall elections this summer and the virtual certainty of a gubernatorial recall election in the offing, this dynamic is not going away any time soon.
Needless to say, this volatility makes long-range financial commitments to upgrading the state’s energy infrastructure a challenge if not an impossibility. The suspension of the state’s wind siting rule, for example, upended a deliberate and multiyear effort to build predictability and certainty into the permitting process. With the rule in abeyance, what wind developers now face amounts to a random walk through a minefield. Small wonder that many of the developers who were active here three years ago have migrated to less explosive pastures. Indeed, high-profile rollbacks like these give the state an unwelcome reputation as being famously difficult to do business in.

Amazingly enough, despite the onslaught from political leaders and certain utilities, public support for renewable energy has held strong, according to a St. Norbert College poll conducted between April 11 and April 18 for Wisconsin Public Radio. More than three-quarters of the respondents favored additional investments in windpower, even if such expenditures would increase monthly electric bills. The rankings for each resource surveyed were: wind (77%), hydropower (60%), biomass (54%), natural gas (39%), nuclear (27%), and coal (19%). The results suggest that the hostility that the Walker Administration and the Legislature have shown to the renewable energy business community is completely out of step with the public.

Along with many other organizations and individuals, RENEW Wisconsin helped build public awareness on the value of renewable energy for jobs and energy self-sufficiency. Now in its 20th year, RENEW Wisconsin finds itself vigorously defending the many policies and practices that made Wisconsin a regional leader in the use of its native renewable energy resources. Though the future is fraught with challenges and uncertainties, about one thing we can be certain: the assaults and policy swings that come our way will not change either the citizen consensus or RENEW Wisconsin’s commitment to a future based on clean, local and sustainable energy.

City of Sheboygan wins sustainability award for self-powering wastewater treatment plant

2011-07-07T15:26:00.001-05:00

From a news release issued by Capstone Turbine Corporation:

CHATSWORTH, Calif., July 7, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (Nasdaq:CPST - News), the world's leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, today announced that the City of Sheboygan, Wisconsin received a prestigious award from the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (GLSLCI) for nearing self-sufficiency at its wastewater treatment plant using Capstone microturbines.

The city of Sheboygan was the only GLSLCI member city in the U.S. and Canada to receive the Wege Small Cities Sustainability Best Practices Award, which recognizes GLSLCI member cities working to protect the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, restore them, and improve the quality of the water resources for future generations. GLSLCI is a bi-national coalition of mayors and other local officials that work actively with federal, state, and provincial governments.

Rather than flare excess methane gas -- the byproduct from sewage treatment processes that has a greenhouse gas impact on the atmosphere 21 times greater than carbon dioxide -- the Sheboygan plant uses the methane to fuel 10 Capstone C30 and two C200 microturbines in a combined heat and power (CHP) application. Using waste methane as fuel, the microturbines fulfill 90 percent of the plant's annual energy needs and nearly eliminate the need to purchase natural gas for heating.

"We wanted something that made sense for the bottom line and the environment," said Dale Doerr, the plant's Superintendent. "The Capstone cogeneration system helps protect the environment and keep our costs down."

Sheboygan wastewater facility generates enough energy to be self-powered

2011-07-06T12:16:00.000-05:00

From an article by Dan Benson in the Sheboygan Press:

Thanks to improvements made in recent months, the Sheboygan wastewater treatment plant is one of the few facilities of its kind — perhaps the only one in the nation — capable of generating enough energy to fully power its operation.

In fact, on weekends, when less equipment is operating and fewer people are working, the plant has generated an excess of electrical energy, which it sells back to Alliant Energy, according to Dale Doerr, wastewater superintendent.

"About a month ago, we were producing 115 percent (of the plant's energy needs)," Doerr said. "It turned the meter 'backward' for a time."

The city treatment plant is able to do that with the help of two 200-kilowatt micro turbines, which were installed in December with the help of a five-year $1.2 million loan from Alliant Energy's Shared Savings Agreement and $400,000 in grants from Alliant's Focus on Energy program.

The turbines run on "biogas" — methane gas generated by treated sewage. Exhaust from running the turbines also is used to heat water, buildings and the digesters at the plant, 3333 Lakeshore Drive.

Funding Hiatus Darkens Outlook for In-State Renewables

2011-07-05T15:16:00.002-05:00

Immediate release
July 5, 2011

More information
Michael Vickerman
Executive Director
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

Funding Hiatus Darkens Outlook for In-State Renewables

For the first time in its 11-year history, Focus on Energy is no longer accepting applications from Wisconsin businesses and nonprofit entities seeking to install renewable energy systems. This new policy took effect July 1.

According to Focus on Energy officials, this suspension of financial incentives is necessary to balance demand for renewable energy systems with available funds. In 2009, Focus on Energy allocated approximately $10 million to support customer-sited renewable energy systems. More than half of that allocation went to businesses, farmers, local governments, schools, and nonprofit organizations throughout the state.

“We recognize that Focus on Energy officials have a responsibility to ensure that outflows don’t exceed revenues. However, this suspension could not have occurred at a worse time for Wisconsin’s renewable energy contractors,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin.

“Unfortunately, this move coincides with Milwaukee-based We Energies’ decision to walk away from an agreement with RENEW Wisconsin to commit $60 million over a 10-year period to develop renewable energy within its territory,” Vickerman said. ‘We Energies disclosed its unilateral action in May, barely more than halfway into honoring its commitment.”

“Given the adverse environment for renewable energy right now in Wisconsin, we hope that the interruption amounts to nothing more than a brief timeout,” said Vickerman.

“Unless funding is restored quickly, 2012 will turn out to be a very lean year for contractors and installers,” Vickerman warned.

As of this moment, the renewable energy marketplace is bristling with new installations. Installations to be completed this summer with incentives from Focus on Energy include:
• Two small wind turbines serving a Monroe County cranberry grower;
• A solar hot water system serving a new apartment building next to the Hilldale shopping complex in Madison;
• Side-by-side solar hot water and electric installations atop a new classroom building at the UW-Oshkosh;
• An engine generator fed with biogas derived from the City of Appleton’s wastewater treatment plant.

However, without a fresh supply of Focus-funded projects, Wisconsin’s renewable energy development pipeline will slow to a trickle, forcing contractors and installers to either seek work in other states or lay off employees.

Wisconsin has more than 2,500 customer-sited renewable energy installations, the vast majority of which received either financial incentives or facilitation services from Focus on Energy. In total, these installations have a generating capacity of about 20 megawatts.

END

90% of consumers worldwide want more renewable energy

2011-06-29T16:31:00.002-05:00

From a news release issued by Vestas Wind Systems:

New York, NY (PRWEB) June 28, 2011
Vestas Wind Systems, the global leader in wind energy, announced today the release of two studies that will help move consumers and corporations towards an increased use of renewable energy.

The Global Consumer Wind Study 2011 and the Corporate Renewable Energy Index (CREX) 2011 bring transparency to consumer preferences and the corporate use of renewable sources of energy, including wind energy. The studies show the relationship between consumer demand for renewable energy in the products and services they purchase, and what corporations are doing – or not doing – to meet these demands.

“Consumers around the world see climate change as the greatest single challenge, and 90 percent of consumers want more renewable energy. This shows a real global desire to reduce carbon emissions,” says Ditlev Engel, President and CEO of Vestas. “It gives corporate decision makers something to think about and act upon.”

Global Consumer Wind Study: Consumers want more renewable energy.
In the largest survey of its kind, 31,000 consumers in 26 countries around the world were asked about their demand for brands made with renewable energy, as well as how energy decisions by some of the world's largest companies affect their choices. The annual study, commissioned by Vestas and conducted by TNS Gallup, provides insights that enable corporations to understand consumer perceptions about climate change, renewable energy, and how these relate to global brands.

“The Global Consumer Wind Study provides insight into the role of renewable energy, in particular wind, in relation to the products and services consumers buy. This in turn should drive the adoption of renewable energy sources by the corporations that sell these products and services,” says Ditlev Engel.

Small businesses hit hard by energy program cuts and changes

2011-06-28T15:33:00.002-05:00

From an article by Judy Newman in the Wisconsin State Journal:

Focus on Energy, a statewide program that promotes energy efficiency, is in the midst of big changes: new management by an out-of-state corporation, suspension of a popular rebate program, and sharp funding cuts in the pending state budget.

Nearly 20 people already have lost their jobs, mostly in Madison, as a result of the management change.

Meanwhile, dozens of small Wisconsin businesses that specialize in setting up solar panels and wind turbines fear for their futures because of the slashed allocation and rebate removal.

“It’s a lot of economic activity and jobs in Wisconsin. It’s a lot of energy efficiency, as well,” said Keith Reopelle, policy director for Clean Wisconsin.

Focus on Energy was created in 2001 to provide education, resources and cash incentives to Wisconsin residents and businesses to increase the use of energy-efficient products and systems, from furnaces to solar panels to vending machines.

In the past 10 years, more than 91,000 businesses and more than 1.7 million residents used the program and saved $2.20 for every dollar spent, according to Focus data. . . .

Since taking over Focus on Energy on May 9, one of Shaw’s first decisions, with PSC support, was to suspend payments to businesses that install renewable-energy systems, as of June 30.

Contractors like Seventh Generation Energy Systems were stunned.“It’s pretty devastating,” said James Yockey, chief executive officer. “It probably took out six to 10 projects that we were looking to close ... for work in the fall and the coming spring.”

Several of the projects were wind turbines for farmers. “I think the incentives are decisive in people saying yes,” Yockey said . . . .

Program supporters have appealed to Gov. Scott Walker to veto the Focus budget cut, including a letter signed by 124 Wisconsin businesses. As of Friday, there was no word on his response. Walker is scheduled to sign the budget today.

“Cutting Focus on Energy will result in higher electricity bills and fewer jobs,” Randy Johnson, president of U.S. Lamp, a Green Bay energy-efficient lighting design company, said in the letter.

Seventh Generation’s Yockey said he hopes to avoid laying off any of his 16 employees by aiming his business at other states, and that could mean moving the company. “We prefer to be located in Madison but the bottom line is: we’ll see where the business takes us,” he said.

Legislators are exporting wind energy jobs and torpedoing all renewables

2011-06-27T16:24:00.000-05:00

From a commentary by Jeff Anthony, American Wind Energy Association, on BizTimes.com:

The Wisconsin Assembly recently passed a bill that would enable hydroelectric power from Manitoba, Canada, to be shipped to Wisconsin to meet the state’s 2006 renewable energy law requiring 10 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy by the year 2015.

If enacted into law, the effect of the Manitoba Hydro Bill will be to ship jobs to Canada and reduce Wisconsin’s ability to meet its clean energy requirement by building more homegrown Wisconsin energy projects.

One of the bill’s sponsors, State Sen. Frank Lasee (R-De Pere), was quoted saying, “This new law will keep electric bills from going up by making it more affordable for utilities to meet green energy mandates.”

Unfortunately, he was mistaken in assuming that other forms of “green energy” will raise electricity rates in the state. If he had gotten his facts straight, he would have found that wind energy costs are at near-record lows, and many utilities in the U.S. are reaping the benefits of lower electricity rates as wind energy expands on their systems. But the facts about wind energy costs, like many other facts, apparently weren’t relevant in the rush to pass this ill-conceived bill.

What Sen. Lasee failed to mention is that his bill will also have a significant impact on Wisconsin by sending good-paying jobs that would otherwise have been created in Wisconsin – to Canada instead.

Sen. Lasee and the other state legislators who voted for the bill would have the state import electricity from Canadian energy projects that use Canadian workers. Today, Wisconsin supports 2,000-3,000 workers in the wind energy industry alone, and the Manitoba Hydro Bill now threatens many of those jobs in Wisconsin.

This is just the latest example of legislative activities that are exporting good-paying, clean energy jobs out of Wisconsin. Why?

At the beginning of the year, another onerous bill was proposed to impose extreme requirements on where Wisconsin wind projects can be located. A few weeks, later a joint committee of the legislature voted to suspend Wind Siting Rules that had been developed through a collaborative, open, and fair process. This rule was suspended by the joint legislative committee on the very day that these far better new rules would have taken effect.

Combined, these actions have jeopardized approximately 700 megawatts of wind projects that were proposed in the state, resulting in the potential loss of $1.8 billion investments and 2 million construction job-hours. And guess what – those 2 million job-hours will not show up in Wisconsin, and will likely move to neighboring states.

So what will be the next step in the “Wisconsin Jobs Export Agenda”?

Well, another piece of anti-clean energy job legislation has emerged, Assembly Bill 146, which would significantly reduce the growth of renewable energy in the state. The Wisconsin clean energy law was originally created to incentivize new renewable energy development and increase fuel diversity. AB 146 would effectively remove that incentive.

State’s Hostility Toward Renewables Escalates; “Leaders” Lag Citizenry on Wind Support

2011-06-24T14:41:00.002-05:00

Two articles from Catching Wind, a newsletter published by RENEW Wisconsin with funding from a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy:

State’s Hostility Toward Renewables Escalates
At the urging of Wisconsin utilities, several lawmakers have introduced a bill to allow a renewable energy credit (REC) to be banked indefinitely. If adopted, this measure (AB146) would constitute the most devastating legislative assault yet on the state’s renewable energy marketplace, which is already reeling from the suspension of the statewide wind siting rule this March and the loosening of renewable energy definitions to allow Wisconsin utilities to count electricity generated from large Canadian hydro projects toward their renewable energy requirements.

“Leaders” Lag Citizenry on Wind Support
Public support for wind energy development has held strong against the attacks launched by Governor Walker and the Legislature’s new Republican majority, according to a poll conducted between April 11 and April 18 by the St. Norbert College Survey Center for Wisconsin Public Radio.

Asked whether Wisconsin should "increase, decrease or continue with the same amount" of energy supply from various sources, 77% favored increasing wind power, the highest of any option (60% favored increasing hydropower, 54% biomass, 39% natural gas, 27% nuclear, and 19% coal).

120 businesses urge funding support for job creation through energy efficiency and renewable energy

2011-06-23T10:11:00.009-05:00

From an article by Charles Davis in the Green Bay Press Gazette:

Thousands of future jobs are at stake if Gov. Scott Walker doesn't veto a provision in the state budget that limits funding for the Focus on Energy program, local business leaders said Wednesday.

"I see it being a real detriment to our business and our customers going forward if we don't have these funding increases," said Jeff Klonowski, regional manager of Kaukauna-based Energy Federation Inc., which supplies lighting fixtures, foam and weather-stripping materials to area contractors.

But supporters of the provision object to the amount of the funding increase, not the program.

"The Focus on Energy program certainly had a lot of benefits, but the huge increase in assessments that were put in place at the end of last year, we think, were too much, too soon," said Scott Manley, director of environmental and energy policy for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state's largest business lobby.

Walker received a letter Wednesday signed by more than 120 businesses asking that he veto that provision in the state budget bill. His office responded with a one-line statement: "We'll evaluate that provision and make any veto-related announcements once the decisions have been finalized."

The program
The statewide Focus on Energy program is funded by tax assessments on utility bills and provides grants to help homeowners and businesses pay for energy-efficient upgrades. It also helps pay for consultants to advise property owners on which type of upgrades would be practical and cost-effective. Each year, utility companies contribute 1.2 percent of revenue — about $100 million total — to the program.

The state Public Service Commission proposed in December raising the utility bill assessments from $94 million in 2010 to $256 million by 2014.

The proposal calls for utilities to increase their contributions to $120 million this year. That amount is fixed even if Walker does not veto the provision. However, assessments would drop to around $100 million in 2012, instead of the initial proposed increase of $160 million for that year.

Image by Clean Wisconsin

The Energy Fair begins June 17!

2011-06-10T15:54:00.007-05:00

Watch and learn about this year's keynote speakers: Will Allen, founder and CEO of Growing Power; Chris Paine, writer and director of Who Killed the Electric Car?; and a panel from the Central Wisconsin Resiliency Project. Enjoy lively entertainment provided by Baba Ganooj, VO5, Banned Wagon and other stellar talent. Don’t forget about the great food and local beer!

See who comes to the Fair, why they come, and what you can expect by attending. Enjoy viewing this video and share it with your friends!

Upgrades help Sheboygan wastewater facility generate energy to be self-powered

2011-06-09T13:36:00.000-05:00

From an article by Dan Benson in the Sheboygan Press:

Thanks to improvements made in recent months, the Sheboygan wastewater treatment plant is one of the few facilities of its kind — perhaps the only one in the nation — capable of generating enough energy to fully power its operation.

In fact, on weekends, when less equipment is operating and fewer people are working, the plant has generated an excess of electrical energy, which it sells back to Alliant Energy, according to Dale Doerr, wastewater superintendent.

"About a month ago, we were producing 115 percent (of the plant's energy needs)," Doerr said. "It turned the meter 'backward' for a time."

The city treatment plant is able to do that with the help of two 200-kilowatt micro turbines, which were installed in December with the help of a five-year $1.2 million loan from Alliant Energy's Shared Savings Agreement and $400,000 in grants from Alliant's Focus on Energy program.

The turbines run on "biogas" — methane gas generated by treated sewage. Exhaust from running the turbines also is used to heat water, buildings and the digesters at the plant, 3333 Lakeshore Drive.

The new turbines are part of a $4.5 million construction project to upgrade the plant, which includes improving the overall energy efficiency of the plant. In all, the plant is realizing energy savings of 17.5 percent, or 1 million kilowatts, and up to $221,000 a year.

Those funds are used to pay back the Alliant Energy loan, Doerr said.

That makes the Sheboygan treatment plant the only secondary treatment facility in the nation capable of generating enough power to meet all its energy needs, officials say.

Bedford Heights, OH, gains wind industry jobs needed to rebuild the Midwestern economy

2011-06-07T16:40:00.005-05:00

Wisconsin might pick up more manufacturing if the governor and legislature welcomed, instead of devastated, the wind industry:

Now online: Wisconsin Renewable Quarterly

2011-06-06T16:17:00.002-05:00

The Wisconsin Renewable Quarterly, the newsletter of RENEW Wisconsin, features these article:

Siting Rule Suspension Rocks Wind Industry
In a move that sent shock waves through the wind industry in Wisconsin, a joint legislative panel voted on March 1 to suspend the wind siting rule promulgated by the Public Service Commission in December 2010.

Community Biogas Project Fires Up
Home to 400 dairy farms, Dane County recently dedicated a community-scale manure-to-methane generating system designed to reduce nutrient runoff into the Yahara Lakes.

Insty Prints: Mpower ChaMpion
But if I can help other businesses make some of the harder choices by being more vocal, then I’m willing to help.

Manitoba Hydro: A Washout?
On behalf of our members and the many businesses and individuals who support the continued expansion of Wisconsin’s renewable energy marketplace, RENEW Wisconsin is here to express opposition to AB 114 (and its companion SB 81), and urges the Legislature not to pass this bill.

Verona Firm Begins Work on “Epic” PV
With the commissioning of its 1,300-module solar electric canopy spanning its parking deck, Epic Systems joins an elite group of Wisconsin companies embracing on-site energy capture to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. At 360 kilowatts (kW), Epic’s new photovoltaic system is the largest solar array in Dane County and the third largest in Wisconsin.

Calendar of Renewable and Energy Efficiency Events
June 17-19, 2001 The Energy Fair. Custer, WI. The nation’s premier sustainable energy education event. Three days of workshops, demonstrations, and exhibits highlighting renewable energy and sustainable living. For details see www.midwestrenew.org.

July 8-10, 2011 EcoFair360. Elkhorn, WI. Join hundreds of exhibitors and presenters and thousands of attendees who will Make Green Happen for three days of education, exploration and inspiration. For details see www.ecofair360.org.

July 16, 2011 Western Wisconsin Sustainability Fair. Menomonie, WI, Dunn County Fair Grounds. Exhibitors from business, government, and non-profi t groups, speakers, workshops, music, energy effi cient vehicles, a photo contest, and a tour of the Cedar Falls Dam. See http://sustainabledunn.org for more information.

July 30, 2011 8th Annual Kickapoo Country Fair. LaFarge, WI. The Midwest’s Largest Organic Food and Sustainability Festival. Food, music, bike and farm tours, cooking demonstrations, theater, kids’ activities, dancing. More information at www.kickappoocountryfair.org.

October 1, 2011 Solar Tour of Homes and Businesses. All across Wisconsin. Owners open their doors to let people see how renewable energy is practical, reliable, and affordable in today’s economy. The homes and businesses often include other energy efficiency and renewable technologies. For details see http://nationalsolartour.org.

October 26, 2011 Wisconsin’s Solar Decade Conference. Milwaukee, WI. Now in its seventh year, the Wisconsin
Solar Decade Conference is your opportunity to see fi rsthand the latest developments in the world of solar energy. For details see www.solardecade.com.

Written on the wind: Glacier Hills open house offers up-close look at project

2011-06-02T15:19:00.005-05:00

From an article by Lyn Jerde in the Portage Daily Register:

TOWN OF SCOTT - Along with names, dates and shout-outs to favorite sports teams, the writing on the turbine blade included a warning: "Watch out."

Mark Barden wrote it, in permanent black marker.

The warning, he said, is aimed at any birds that might fly near the blade once it's turning, 400 feet in the air.

Wednesday's open house at the Glacier Hills Wind Park was Barden's first up-close look at the components of the 90 electricity-generating wind turbines that have begun to rise in the skyline in northeast Columbia County.

But it won't be his last look. Barden said three of the towers will be on his land in the town of Scott, just outside of Cambria.

He said he doesn't share the health and safety concerns about the wind towers that many of their opponents cited in seeking to block the construction of Glacier Hills - things such as constant low-level noise and shadow flicker.

"I'm more worried," he said, "about the red lights at night," he said. "When I look in the sky and try to find constellations, all I'll see is the red beacons (on the towers).

"But," Barden added, "we'll deal with that."

Barden was one of several hundred people who attended the open house, which included indoor easel and tabletop displays, and a tour - on foot or by school bus - of one of the four towers that, as of Wednesday, had two of its four segments erected.

Mike Strader, site manager for the We Energies project, said that, barring wind or other inclement weather, plans call for adding the top two segments to at least one of the towers today, with the hub, cell and three blades of the turbine to follow soon.

More photos on RENEW's Facebook page.

Appleton schools excel in energy efficiency

2011-05-31T14:38:00.000-05:00

From an article by Kathy Walsh Nufer in the Appleton Post Crescent:

APPLETON — The Appleton Area School District has received an Energy Star Rating from the federal government for high energy performance in 23 of its 26 school buildings.

And that, school officials say, translates into money saved.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rating system helps assess how efficiently buildings use energy when compared to similar buildings nationwide.

A rating of 50 on the 1-100 scale indicates average energy performance, while a rating of 75 or better indicates top performance.

Bob Zuehlsdorf, director of facilities and operations, told Board of Education members last week that the strong rating is "huge" for Appleton. "That's the gold standard from the federal standpoint."

Zuehlsdorf noted that the three school buildings that did not get the top rating "just missed" the 75 mark needed. Badger Elementary School had a 74, and Wilson Middle School and the Morgan Building each received a 73.

Energy Star plaques will be posted in the schools soon.

Appleton's public school buildings take up the equivalent of 2,300 houses in space, and the district has made a concerted effort to cut back on energy usage in the last few years.

That has paid off, said Zuehlsdorf. Even though electric, gas and water rates continue to rise, expenses are staying about the same or going down. Energy costs are projected to run $269,000, or 8.8 percent under budget this year.

Energy groups oppose bill to undermine Wisconsin's renewable energy commitment

2011-05-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

From statements issued by three groups in opposition to Assembly Bill 146:

"Clearly, this bill is a drastic step in the wrong direction for our state. The Wisconsin Energy Business Association therefore opposes this attack on renewable energy in our state." - Wisconsin Energy Business Association. Full statement.

We strongly recommend that this bill not be approved as it solves no known problem in Wisconsin and seeks only to roll-back policies on renewable energy that have served the state well and are otherwise benefitting Wisconsin residents with cleaner air and lower prices for electricity. - Wind on the Wires. Full statement.

Fresh attack on Wisconsin voters’ desire for a renewable energy standard would kill wind projects and sap state’s economy, say wind energy advocates - American Wind Energy Association. Full statement.

WI utility agrees to buy Canadian hydroelectric power

2011-05-25T15:44:00.004-05:00

While RENEW opposes counting hydro toward a utility's renewable portofio standard, Wisconsin Public Service agreed to buy 100 MW from Manitoba Hyrdo, according to an article in The Lac du Bonnet Leader:

Premier Greg Selinger announced today that Manitoba Hydro has signed agreements for a 250megawatt (MW) sale of electricity to Minnesota Power and a 100-MW sale to Wisconsin Public Service. Combined with a previously completed 125 MW sale to Northern States Power, these sales total 475 MW with an estimated value of $4 billion, Selinger said.

The premier said these sales will require the construction of new hydroelectric generating capacity in Manitoba. They will trigger the development of the 695-MW Keeyask (Cree for gull) Generating Station located on the lower Nelson River 175 km northeast of Thompson in the Split Lake Resource Management Area. Keeyask is to be developed by a partnership consisting of Manitoba Hydro and the Keeyask Cree Nations-Tataskweyak Cree Nation, War Lake First Nation, Fox Lake Cree Nation, and York Factory First Nation. The $5.6-billion project will provide some 4,500 person-years of construction employment, said Selinger. . .

The 250-MW power sale to Minnesota Power over a 15-year period from 2020 to 2035 requires an additional interconnection between Manitoba and the United States which will provide increased export capability and reliability benefits for Manitoba, said Selinger.

The 100-MW power sale agreement to Wisconsin Public Service covers the 2021-2027 period. Negotiations are continuing to expand the Wisconsin sale to 500 MW which would require construction of the Conawapa Generating Station, the premier said, adding with these sales, Manitoba Hydro and its partners are reviewing scheduling and other requirements for moving forward with Keeyask.

Fox Valley Lutheran High School receives solar energy grant

2011-05-24T16:56:00.000-05:00

From an article in the Appleton Post Crescent:

APPLETON — Fox Valley Lutheran High School has received a $150,000 solar energy grant from Wisconsin Focus on Energy and We Energies.

In April, 156 solar panels were installed on the roof of the school's media center. The goal is to generate electricity and lower energy costs at the school. According to estimates, the 36-kilowatt photovoltaic system will help reduce the school's energy costs by nearly $4,300 annually.

School officials said this renewable energy system generates electricity in a quiet and reliable way without creating air or water pollution. The panels cost $247,455 to install.

An interactive page has been posted to the school's website, www.fvlh.org, to teach students about solar energy and other renewable energy technologies, and to monitor the output of the solar cells.

Careers in wind energy industry

2011-05-24T11:22:00.002-05:00

Job seekers talk about their interests in wind at Windpower2011, the American Wind Energy Association's annual meeting and expo in Annaheim, CA.

Donations fund Sturgeon Bay school's solar panels

2011-05-23T16:25:00.000-05:00

From an article by Samantha Hernandez in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

The Sturgeon Bay School Board has received a donation from Sturgeon Bay Utilities to help offset the costs of the district's new solar panels.

The board accepted the grants Wednesday from Jim Stawicki, SBU general manager.

Stawicki, acting as a representative for both Sturgeon Bay Utilities and Wisconsin Public Power Inc., presented the two grants, from WPPI for $25,000 and one from SBU for $19,000.

The district also received a grant for about $20,000 from Wisconsin Focus on Energy.

The grants will be used to offset the costs of the district's solar panels, the monitoring system, and the new touch-screen kiosk in the front entrance of the high school. The kiosk allows users to view various statistics that pertain to the solar panels including the amount of energy produced and a diagram of the panels.

The panels were installed in March on the roof of the high school, said Russ Cross, district manager of buildings and grounds.

There are two rows of solar panels, 22 in all, and each panels has 60 photovoltaic cells. The panels are visible from Michigan Street, which runs past the high school.

Cross is not certain how much the panels will save the school in the long run.

"It's hard to speculate. The amount of power it's supposed to generate (is) roughly equivalent to powering two average-size homes for a year," Cross said.

UWO, partners dedicate innovative biodigester

2011-05-20T00:25:00.000-05:00

From an article by Amanda Wimmer on UW Oshkosh Today:

Once up and running, the nation’s first commercial-scale dry fermentation anaerobic biodigester — an innovative system transforming heaps of food waste and lawn clippings into renewable energy — will produce enough electricity for at least 210 homes per year.

It will also pump out enough energy to heat another, at least, 180 homes per year.

And it will accomplish all this from its modest corner at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus, which itself expects to benefit, with about 10 percent of its electricity and heat emanating from the innovative plant.

UW Oshkosh hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony and dedication May 18 to celebrate one more of the institution’s many renewable and sustainable energy initiatives.

“We need to expand the notion of sustainability so it gets highlighted and integrated into all we do,” said Chancellor Richard Wells. “This facility really represents that…it allows us to enhance the state-of-the-art teaching and research happening here.”

Conservation Voters object to bill that would allow renewable energy to come from Canada

2011-05-19T09:23:00.000-05:00

From an article in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

Wisconsin utilities could count power from a Canadian hydroelectric plant as a renewable source of energy under a bill quickly moving through the Legislature, despite objections from environmental groups.

The bill modifies an existing law that requires 10 percent of the electricity providers sell to come from renewable sources by 2015, but specifies any hydroelectric source must produce less than 60 megawatts of power.

That provision, meant to ensure electric providers would use Wisconsin-based hydroelectric facilities, is rewritten to also allow newly constructed plants in Manitoba, Canada, that produce more than 60 megawatts of power.

The state Senate approved the measure in a 21-11 vote Tuesday afternoon. The bill wouldn’t take effect until Dec. 31, 2015.

“There’s a number of electric companies that want to find ways to meet their 2015-and-beyond mandates, and they want to do it in the most economical manner,” said Sen. Frank Lasee, R-Ledgeview, the bill’s chief sponsor. “The Left has got it wrong on jobs and green energy. We can’t take more from all the businesses and ratepayers in Wisconsin just to foster green energy jobs.”

Conservationists say allowing companies to purchase hydroelectric power from Canada undermines the efforts of Wisconsin’s clean energy industry.

“They’re basically allowing Manitoba power to flood the renewable energy market in Wisconsin,” said Jennifer Giegerich, legislative director for the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters. “Once this is allowed to be counted, we’re concerned utilities will dump their current contracts and get this cheap energy from Canada. That puts Wisconsin energy jobs at risk.”

State clean energy mandates have little effect on electricity rates so far

2011-05-18T02:35:00.001-05:00

From an article by Don Huagen in Midwest Energy News:

One of the larger reviews of renewable portfolio standards was a 2008 report (PDF) from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The study looked at data on a dozen state renewable policies enacted before 2007. The estimated impact on electricity rates varied by state, but it was a fraction of a percent in most cases and just over 1 percent in two states, Connecticut and Massachusetts. “There is little evidence of a sizable impact on average retail electricity rates so far,” the report concluded.

One of the report’s co-authors, Galen Barbose, said in an interview that they are collecting data for an updated version of the report. So far he said he hasn’t seen any new information to suggest their conclusion about rate impacts will change significantly in the next edition.

A 2009 study by the U.S. Energy Information Administration modeled the potential impact of a 25 percent nationwide renewable electricity standard. It, too, noted that rate impacts would vary by state, with renewable-rich regions like the Great Plains and Northwest meeting the targets more easily. Overall, though, it projected no impact on rates through 2020, followed by a less than 3 percent increase by 2025. By 2030, however, it projected little difference in rates with or without a national renewable mandate.

The Minnesota Free Market Institute and American Tradition Institute reached a very different conclusion in an April 2011 report (PDF), which claims Minnesota’s renewable electricity standard is going to cause rates in the state to skyrocket by as much as 37 percent by 2025.

Utilities’ experiences vary
Xcel Energy, the state’s largest utility, has come up with a much smaller number: $0.003. That’s the difference Xcel forecasts between its projected per-kilowatt-hour energy price in 2025 under its proposed wind expansion plan compared to a hypothetical scenario in which it stopped adding new wind capacity after 2012.

Asked to comment on the Free Market Institute’s study, Xcel Energy spokesman Steve Roalstad said, “It doesn’t seem to be moving in that direction.” The cost of adding renewable energy sources, especially wind, continues to fall and has become very competitive with traditional generating sources, he said.

Notre Dame Academy installs new solar electric system

2011-05-17T14:05:00.000-05:00

From an article by Richard Ryman in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

Green Bay Notre Dame Academy dedicated a new solar electric system on Monday and is preparing for renovation of its auditorium over the summer.

The Catholic high school dedicated a system designed and installed by Solar Innovations of Waukesha. Solar Innovations is owned by former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann.

Robert Pauly, president of Notre Dame, 610 Maryhill Drive, Green Bay, said the system cost about $181,000, and was paid for in part by a $143,000 grant from Focus on Energy and Wisconsin Public Service Corp. He credited science teacher Steve Kircher with discovering and applying for the grant.

The solar panels will generate 41,400 kilowatts a year and save $4,261 annually in electric costs, giving it about a seven-year payback on the school's portion of the project. It will save an estimated $95,000 over 15 years and $216,300 over 25 years, taking into account escalating energy costs, Pauly said. It is rated to last 30 to 50 years.

"Solar Innovations told us it is the largest solar system in Northeastern Wisconsin," Pauly said.

We Energies Terminates Its Renewable Energy Program

2011-05-16T16:16:00.002-05:00

For immediate release
May 13, 2011
More information
RENEW Wisconsin
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

We Energies Terminates Its Renewable Energy Program
Utility Pulls Plug on $6 Million a Year Commitment

As reported on its Web site, Milwaukee-based We Energies will discontinue an innovative and effective renewable energy development program that supported scores of renewable energy systems throughout its service territory. [The announcement can be accessed at http://www.we-energies.com/re.]

“It’s a sad day when the state’s largest utility decides to walk away from its commitment to a clean energy future,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide organization advocating for public policies and private initiatives that advance renewable energy.

As indicated in various filings with the Public Service Commission, We Energies had committed to spend $6 million a year over 10 years to increase its renewable energy supplies and make renewable energy more affordable to its customers through grants and incentives. We Energies’ commitment came in the wake of a settlement with RENEW over the utility’s plans to build two coal-fired power stations in southeast Wisconsin.

Of the $60 million committed, the utility has spent approximately $30 million since 2006. This program will be zeroed out in We Energies’ next rate filing, which will cover 2012 and 2013.

This program supported numerous customer-sited renewable energy installations [see list below], conferences and workshops, research and development activities, and innovative buyback rates.

“Perhaps not coincidently, the decision to terminate this program comes just months after We Energies placed its second coal-fired plant in service. The $6 million a year was a small price to pay for the all of the renewable energy advances that occurred while the utility built two coal plants,” said Vickerman.

“Now that the coal plant is up and running, it appears that the program has outlived its usefulness to We Energies,” Vickerman said.
Six million dollars equates to about .025 percent of We Energies’ annual expenditures.

“This cancellation comes as a blow to area contractors and businesses that were relying on the program to create jobs and clean energy,” said Vickerman. “The achievements leveraged far outweigh the program’s negligible cost.”

“Between utility program cutbacks and state government rollbacks, Wisconsin’s policy framework for supporting renewable energy will be largely dismantled by the end of the year.”

--END- -

Customer-owned renewable energy success stories and live data

A growing number of customers have their own renewable energy facilities. The links below go to summaries of the projects and/or real-time production data from the solar photovoltaic, solar hot water and wind renewable energy generation systems.

Solar electric photovoltaic
Ascension Lutheran Church
Cedar Community
City of Brookfield Safety Building
Concordia University Wisconsin
Cooper Elementary School
Cross Lutheran Church
Crown of Life Lutheran Church
Energy Producing Home #1
Evangelical and Reformed United Church of Christ - Waukesha
Fairview Charter School
Family Enrichment Center of Ozaukee County
First Congregational Church - Port Washington
First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee
Fox River Christian Church
Fox Valley Lutheran High School
Gateway Technical College Horizon Center Solar Tracker
GE Healthcare
GE Research Park
Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church and School
Growing Power - Milwaukee
HOPE Christian School
Johnson Foundation
Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School
La Casa de Esperanza
Lake Country School
Lake Park Lutheran Church
Lawrence University
Madison Area Technical College - Fort Atkinson Campus
Madison College - Fort Atkinson
Menomonee Falls North Middle School
Milwaukee Area Tech College - Oak Creek
Milwaukee Central Library
Milwaukee County Zoo
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
Milwaukee Recycling Education Facility
MSOE:Fat Spaniel Tech MSOE Monitor
Navarino Nature Center
North Shore Presbyterian Church
Our Savior Lutheran Church
Outpost Natural Foods
Pragmatic Construction Home 1 - PV
Purdy Elementary School - Fort Atkinson
Racine City Hall Annex
Racine Eco-Justice Center
Racine St. Catherine's High School
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Shoreland Lutheran High School
Shorewood School District
Still Point Zen Center
The Order of Julian of Norwich
Town of Greenville
Town of Menasha
Unitarian Universalist Church West
United Community Center
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
University of Wisconsin - Parkside
Urban Ecology Center
Village of Marshall Wastewater Treatment Facility
Village of Wind Point
Walden III Middle and Senior High School
Waukesha County Technical College
Wauwatosa Fire Department
Whitewater Innovation Center
Wisconsin Lutheran College
Wisconsin State Fair Park

Solar water heating
Fort Atkinson High School Solar Thermal
Fort Atkinson Middle School Solar Thermal
Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity SHW 1
Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity SHW 2
We Energies HQ: Fat Spaniel Tech Wired Solar

Solar electric photovoltaic and wind
Discovery World
Lakeshore Technical College
Mequon Nature Preserve
Milwaukee Area Tech College - Mequon

Wind
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee – Camp Whitcomb Mason
Village of Cascade Wastewater Treatment Plant

List from We Energies' Web site -- http://www.we-energies.com/residential/energyeff/active_installdata.htm

Third large Wisconsin wind project cancelled due to legislative blockage

2011-05-06T12:53:00.000-05:00

From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Moves to restrict wind farm development in Wisconsin led a Madison utility to take a $5 million charge, citing the difficulty of being able to build the project in Green Lake and Fond du Lac counties.

“Events arising in the first quarter of 2011 lead us to conclude it would be difficult to effectively use the

site for wind development,” said Bill Harvey, Alliant chairman and chief executive, during an investor conference call.

Alliant Energy Corp. had bought development rights to the project several years ago from NextEra Energy Resources, at a time the state was looking to increase its renewable energy targets.

The $5 million charge is in recognition of the fact that it will be much more difficult to build the wind farm given uncertainty in the state’s wind siting requirements, said utility spokesman Steve Schultz.

During his first month in office, Gov. Scott Walker announced a property rights bill that aimed to restrict wind farm development to move turbines farther away from nearby properties. Local groups that have challenged wind farms supported the move, but wind energy developers said it would make it tough to build wind farms in the state.

Walker’s bill is on hold, and the Legislature has moved to suspend a statewide siting standard that the wind developers had said they could live with.

As a result, no statewide standard currently exists, and the Legislature and Public Service Commission are continuing to discuss how to address wind standards.

Uncertainty in the state’s wind siting rules led two developers to cancel wind farm development in the state earlier this year.

Wind technician rescue training

2011-05-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

Jenny Heinzen, president of RENEW Wisconsin board, lowered a student to the ground during a wind technician training exercise at Lakeshore Technical College. His giggles are the ones you hear at the end. Jenny remained on the platform 90 feet above the ground.

Budget commitee slashes energy efficiency funding

2011-05-04T14:16:00.002-05:00

From an article by Mike Ivey in The Capital Times:

Cuts to key environmental programs continue in Wisconsin, with a sharp reduction in future funding for Focus on Energy, a statewide energy efficiency effort.

On a party-line vote Tuesday, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee rolled back the budget for Focus on Energy to less than $100 million annually. The monies come from a tax on electric utility revenues and are distributed to businesses and individuals for energy savings projects.

The Focus on Energy program has been administered over the past years by the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., a Madison-based non-profit. But the contract was awarded earlier this year to the Shaw Group, a Baton Rouge, La., firm with offices in Milwaukee.

The Public Service Commission in November 2010 had proposed new energy savings goals for Focus on Energy by hiking the utility assessment. Those budgets were then approved by the Democratic majority in Joint Finance and would have upped money in the program from $120 million in 2011 to $256 million by 2014.

But with the committee action, funding for Focus on Energy will remain flat for the foreseeable future.

Co-chairman Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, led opposition to the increase, calling it a redistribution of utility ratepayer dollars.

Launched in 2001, Focus on Energy has helped residents and businesses save nearly $2 billion on their energy bills, supporters of the program say.

Green Bay-based renewable fuels company will study new use for Menasha steam plant

2011-05-03T09:32:00.000-05:00

From an article by Michael King in the Appleton Post Crescent:

MENASHA — The defunct Menasha Utilities steam plant, closed since October 2009, could come back to life burning environmentally friendly pellets instead of coal.

The Menasha Common Council on Monday voted 8-0 to approve a letter of intent that allows Greenwood Fuels, a Green Bay-based renewable fuels company, to study the steam plant at 198 River St. for potential conversion to generate electricity by burning pellets made from paper sludge at its Green Bay facility.

"We produce a fuel pellet that is considered by the state to be renewable," said Ted Hansen, general manager of Greenwood Fuels, which started up in 2009 and has grown to 30 employees.

"There's a lot of questions and a lot of hurdles and we just want to start the process," he said. "We basically are trying to solve some of the world's problems with burning too much coal."

Besides avoiding coal burning emissions, the fuel pellets also help the environment by diverting waste from landfills.

"It (the letter of intent) is strictly an investigative document where we would work with the city (and) begin to study the plant," Hansen said.

He said Greenwood Fuels has already been in contact with the Sierra Club, which had filed a lawsuit against the city for allegedly violating its coal-burning permit.

The feasibility study and business plan are expected to take 60 to 90 days to complete.

Wisconsin Public Service seeks electricity and natural gas rate increase for 2012

2011-05-02T16:18:00.000-05:00

From a news release issued by Wisconsin Public Service:

Green Bay, WI - Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS), a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group (NYSE:TEG) today filed a limited request for new electric and natural gas rates with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW). The items included in the request are consistent with the final decision the company received as part of its 2011 rate order from the PSCW authorizing WPS to make a filing for 2012 for recovery for changes in costs in a few limited items.

The WPS request is for a 3.5% overall increase to electric rates and a 0.3% increase in natural gas rates. If approved, the request would result in monthly increases of $2.33 for typical residential electric customers using 630 kilowatt-hours and $0.42 for typical residential natural gas customers using 756 therms annually.

Neenah Foundry implements innovative energy-efficient technology

2011-04-28T16:40:00.000-05:00

From a news release issued by Focus on Energy and published on PitchEngine.com:

With the help of Focus on Energy, Wisconsin utilities’ statewide program for energy efficiency and renewable energy, and in partnership with We Energies, Neenah Foundry has implemented an energy-efficient emerging technology into practice that shows promise for any facility that operates cabinet coolers. Neenah Foundry, of Neenah, Wis., cut energy costs on 68 cabinet coolers by more than 50 percent—this adds up to energy savings of more than $141,000 annually.

Cabinet coolers keep critical electronic circuitry in challenging industrial environments clean, cool, and dry. Traditionally, cabinet coolers use a lot of compressed air which translates into high energy use. After exploring various options to reduce the energy use of cabinet coolers at Neenah Foundry, studies showed that retrofitting the cabinet coolers with thermostat controls and an integrated purge function would be the most cost-effective energy-saving option.

Neenah Foundry retrofitted 68 vortex cabinet coolers which now use a small amount of purge air to maintain positive pressure within the cabinets at all times. They only use full air flow when the thermostat calls for cooling. The electronic thermostat operates just like a standard programmable thermostat, activating only when the temperature inside the cabinet rises to a certain level which prevents the cabinet coolers from needlessly running at full flow.

GE Healthcare seeks OK for wind turbines

2011-04-26T16:17:00.001-05:00

From an article by Laurel Walker in the Milwaukee journal Sentinel:

Waukesha - GE Healthcare is seeking city permission to install 10 wind turbines up to 155 feet tall on its 662-acre Waukesha campus on county Highway T north of I-94.

The project, if approved, would be built next year or later, said Annette Busateri, public relations manager. It is part of the company's 2015 goal of reducing electrical usage by 15% and improving building energy efficiency by at least 10%, she said.

The Waukesha Plan Commission is scheduled to consider a conditional use permit for the project at its 6 p.m. meeting Wednesday. The city has no wind turbines, planner Michael Hoeft said.

City planner Jennifer Andrews said the company has lined up letters indicating state and federal agencies likely have no objections.

"They seem to have all their ducks in a row," she said.

Although the proposed turbines are about a mile from the runways of Waukesha County's airport, Crites Field, their height would be below the limit set by the county's zoning ordinance that protects airspace around the airport from encroaching structures.

The plan calls for turbines on towers ranging from 135 to 155 feet tall. Three would be behind the former headquarters building, now an assembly building for medical imaging equipment that's the farthest north of three buildings. The other seven would be between the two other buildings farther south.

Waukesha County Parks and Land Use Director Dale Shaver said there are no commercial wind turbines in the county. Not only would this project be the first, but they would be near a high-traffic, very visible interchange.

Learn about a Transition Initiative in your community, April 28

2011-04-25T12:24:00.001-05:00

Join or start a Transition Initiative in your community

“The Transition Movement is a vibrant, grassroots movement that seeks to build community resilience in the face of such challenges as peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis. It represents one of the most promising ways of engaging people in strengthening their communities against the effects of these challenges, resulting in a life that is more abundant, fulfilling, equitable and socially connected.”

Find a transition group near you: http://transitionus.org/about-us

Join us for a presentation:
Transitions
by Eric Lindberg from Transitions ~ Milwaukee

Time: Thursday, April 28 • 5:30pm - 8:30pm
Location: House of Tawet, Coffee house
601 N. Broadway
Green Bay, WI
________________________________________
Created By Helfenstein Soup Council, inc., Kim Diaz
________________________________________
More Info HOT Stone Soup Evenings Presents: Eric Lindberg from Transitions Milwaukee speaking on the Transitions movement of building sustainable communities with local Resilience, Self-Reliance, Renewable Energy & Cooperation.

http://www.amazon.com/Transition-Handbook-Dependency-Resilience-Guides/dp/1900322188#reader_1900322188

Poll finds strong support for wind energy in Wisconsin

2011-04-22T13:15:00.000-05:00

From an article in the Chicago Tribune:

MADISON, Wis.— A poll of Wisconsin residents finds strong support for increasing the use of wind energy, even if doing so would raise electricity bills several dollars per month.

The Wisconsin Public Radio poll was released Friday. It shows that 77 percent of respondents want to see the state invest more in wind energy. Reasons included decreasing the nation's reliance on foreign oil and helping the environment.

A majority, 69 percent, wouldn't mind eight to 10 wind-energy machines being placed closed to where they live, and 79 percent favor placing the machines offshore in Lake Michigan.

Click here for poll results.

How coal stacks up against wind

2011-04-21T16:52:00.000-05:00

Madison Peak Oil Group listserve subscribers are debating coal vs. wind. To join the debate, drop an email to madisonpeakoil-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Lawrence, UW-Oshkosh named "green" colleges

2011-04-20T16:02:00.000-05:00

From a story on WLUK-TV, Green Bay:

Two Northeast Wisconsin universities have made one publication’s list of “green colleges.”

Lawrence University in Appleton and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh were among 311 schools listed in The Princeton Review’s 2011 list of green colleges.

The Princeton Review worked with the U.S. Green Building Council to create the list and an accompanying guidebook. Organizers said they considered three factors in their ratings: sustainability of the students’ quality of life, preparation of students to face environmental challenges, and the school’s overall commitment to environmental issues.

Earth Day Economics: A Green and Prosperous Future

2011-04-19T15:20:00.000-05:00

From an article in the Shepherd Express by Doug Booth, a retired Marquette University economics professor, a founder of the Driftless Area Land Conservancy, and author of The Coming Good Boom: Creating Prosperity for All and Saving the Environment Through Compact Living:

The astounding success of the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, under the tutelage of a true Wisconsin hero, Sen. Gaylord Nelson, marked the coming of age of the environmental movement in this country. Environmental victories in the 1970s included the passage of such landmark legislation as the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species acts. Earth Day ushered in a new environmental era, and today the quality of our lives is much improved for it.

Unfortunately, our work remains unfinished.

Our single greatest environmental threat today is global warming brought to us by the burning of fossil fuels to power our cars, heat our homes, grow our food and fabricate and operate all our wonderful consumer gadgets. Scientists tell us that greenhouse gases from fossil fuels act like a "tea cozy" around the Earth, bringing forth dangerous environmental harms reported in the news on a daily basis—a shrinking polar ice cap, rising sea levels, more powerful storms, droughts and wildfires.

Reducing Fossil Fuel Consumption
Bringing global warming to a halt can be accomplished with a simple act—freeing ourselves from the environmental tyranny of fossil fuels. Some will say this is easier said than done, but doing so will bring on what I call a "good boom" that will lift all our boats. The "good boom" will be an economic expansion created through compact urban living, clean energy, more grassland and less corn, green cuisine, letting forests grow old and more. It will also help us address global warming. . . .

Wind and Solar Are the Future's Power Sources
Necessary to moving beyond fossil fuels is a switch to truly clean sources of renewable energy. Notwithstanding Gov. Scott Walker's attempt to bring wind energy to a screeching halt with onerous regulations, both wind and sun are the primary energy sources of the future. For example, California lawmakers recently approved a rule requiring utilities to derive one-third of their power from renewable energy sources within 10 years. As we do more of anything in our economy, its cost inevitably falls. This is happening already for both wind and solar energy. The Great Plains is on track to becoming the Saudi Arabia of wind energy, and throughout the Midwest industrial belt, old factories are quickly being refitted to produce wind generators and solar panels. Despite the naysayers, the wind and solar energy revolution is under way, bringing forth an abundance of new jobs—windsmiths, solar panel installers, weatherization specialists, solar engineers, wind and solar equipment fabricators and, here in Milwaukee, urban farmers.

To be sure, the fossil fuel industry will resist going quietly and will defend to the death its right to pollute the atmosphere without cost. Eventually, the industry will lose this battle and will pay the public piper through some form of a tax on greenhouse gas emissions.

Rising Diesel Prices Fuel Higher Electric Rates

2011-04-15T15:59:00.001-05:00

For immediate release
April 15, 2011

More information
RENEW Wisconsin
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

We Energies Customers Will Pay the Higher Cost of Hauling Coal

We Energies’ electricity customers can look forward to coughing up an additional $25 million in 2011 due to the Public Service Commission’s approval yesterday [April14] of a rate increase to cover the escalating cost of transporting coal to Wisconsin power plants.

Milwaukee-based We Energies, Wisconsin’s largest electric utility, imports coal from such distant locations as Wyoming and Pennsylvania to generate electricity. Transportation now accounts for two-thirds of the delivered cost of coal to Wisconsin.

Diesel fuel costs have jumped to approximately $4.00 a gallon this year, propelled by political unrest in the Middle East, declining petroleum output from Mexico, a weakening dollar, and other factors. We Energies’ request predated the ongoing civil war in Libya.

“While we cannot control any of those price drivers, we can more effectively cushion their effects by diversifying our energy generation mix with locally produced wind, solar, small hydro, and biogas electricity,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide organization advocating for public policies and private initiatives that advance renewable energy.

“The coal mines aren’t getting any closer to Wisconsin. Therefore we have to be serious about reducing our dependence on fossil fuels that are tied to the global oil supply picture. Now is not the time to skimp on investments in conservation and renewable energy that will help stabilize the utility bills of businesses and residents,” Vickerman said.

“Do we have the will to pursue energy policies that take us off of the fossil fuel price escalator? Doing nothing will bake these rate increases into our future without any corresponding boost to Wisconsin’s job market and sustainable energy economy.”

--END--

Green Bay biomass plant plan comes under fire

2011-04-13T09:05:00.000-05:00

From an article by Scott Williams in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

A proposed Green Bay alternative energy plant came under renewed criticism Tuesday from opponents who fear it will jeopardize public health and the environment.

Many of the same critics who fought the biomass plant in Ashwaubenon urged federal regulators to reject its new Green Bay location.

A company affiliated with the Oneida Tribe of Indians moved the proposed plant construction site after encountering stiff opposition in Ashwaubenon.

The Green Bay City Council has endorsed the development on the city's industrial west side, but federal and state regulators still must approve the project, too.

The U.S. Department of Energy held a public hearing Tuesday at Chappell Elementary School in Green Bay as part of its review of the Oneida plan to generate electricity by burning household trash.

Supporters of the proposed facility at 1230 Hurlbut St. said it would slow landfill dumping of trash while bringing green energy production to the area.

"It's new technology," Green Bay resident Brandon Selissen said. "And I think we should be at the forefront."

But opponents voiced concerns that the project was too experimental and would risk exposing the Green Bay area to toxic emissions and possibly environmental damage.

Several questioned whether the trash-to-electricity process has been proven to work safely anywhere else in the United States.

"We have concerns about the potential countywide impact of this project," said John Filcher, a member of Incinerator Free Brown County, a group that earlier opposed the plant in Ashwaubenon.

After trying unsuccessfully for weeks to win support for the project in Ashwaubenon, the Oneida Seven Generations Corp. redirected its efforts to Green Bay.

Oneida officials have assured Green Bay city leaders that the 60,000-square-foot plant would not pollute the environment. Those officials calculate that the operation would process up to 150 tons of trash daily and generate 5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 3,000 to 4,000 homes.

Wild Ones offering two rain barrel workshops, April 30 & May 15

2011-04-12T09:53:00.000-05:00

This year Wild Ones is pleased to offer two types of rain barrel workshops at the national Wild Ones WILD Center this spring.

The first type will be presented by Master Gardener Rod Sternhagen at the WILD Center on Saturday, April 30th. Workshops will be approximately two hours long, scheduled for 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Rod will provide hands-on instruction for you to create your own rain barrel. Workshop rain barrels will be 55 gallon drums. The finished rain barrel will have a permeable lid which makes it insect, child, and pet proof. Cost $50/ non-members, $45/Wild Ones members. Includes the barrel and materials.

The second type will be presented by Eric Schmitz of 4Evergreen Ecoscapes on Friday May 15th at 5:30 p.m. This rain barrel will also be a 55 gallon drum and includes the RainReserve diverter system. The rain barrel will be completely enclosed with a diverter for overflow rainwater. Cost $80/non-member and $75/ Wild Ones members. Includes the barrel and materials.

The WILD Center is located at 2285 Butte des Morts Beach Rd, Neenah – just off County Rd BB. For more information go to www.wildones.org/whatsnew.html or call 920-730-3986.

Walker should reconsider his stance on setbacks for wind farms

2011-04-08T14:01:00.001-05:00

From an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Wind farms in Wisconsin can lessen the state's reliance on coal-fired power plants at the same time that they add jobs to the economy. But instead of moving forward on this economic development tool, Gov. Scott Walker's administration is taking a step back. That's a mistake and something Walker should rethink.

What the governor and the Legislature have done is change the rules under which wind farms are sited, seeking to put greater distance between homes and wind farms. As a result, at least two firms have announced they are canceling or suspending plans to build wind farms in Wisconsin - and that means a loss of potential jobs.

Here's what happened: Two years ago, the Legislature called on the state Public Service Commission to establish a uniform standard for wind projects across the state. The idea was that a statewide standard was better than the patchwork of local rules and moratoriums that were in place. It was a good idea, and the PSC came up with a rule.

One of its elements was a 1,250-foot setback from a neighbor's property line; it also would have provided decibel and shadow flicker requirements for wind farm turbines.

The setback wasn't enough for Walker and wind farm opponents; in January, the governor introduced a bill with a 1,800-foot setback, although he said this week that his administration remains open to wind energy. Last week, a legislative committee sent the PSC's new rule back to the PSC for more work. The concern is that wind farms will hurt property values of neighboring residents.

That's resulted in enough uncertainty over the future of wind farms in Wisconsin that Invenergy of Chicago canceled plans to develop a wind farm near Green Bay and Midwest Wind Energy suspended development of two wind farms.

A statewide standard still needs to be set by the PSC. And the legitimate concerns of neighbors of wind farms need to be taken into account without giving too much credence to fears that are unfounded and overstated. But the standard should not be so restrictive that wind farms become impractical in Wisconsin. That takes Wisconsin out of the clean energy economy - a bad bet.

Shortsighted energy plans just won't cut it; renewables needed

2011-04-07T10:17:00.002-05:00

From an editorial in the Sheboygan Press:

President Barack Obama has twice in the last year called for the nation to reduce its dependence of foreign oil by embarking on a multi-faceted plan on energy.

Obama's first call for energy independence was followed less than a month later by the Deep Water Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

We hope that the president's latest energy initiative is followed not by a disaster, but by a commitment from Congress to develop a national energy policy. A commitment from the American people to be receptive of alternative energy sources would be nice, too. . . .

Until recently, we thought Wisconsin was poised to become a leader in helping the nation reach that goal.

Wind power was one area where Wisconsin was setting the pace.

The state had sensible rules on where wind turbines could be located in relation to residential properties and the state was on its way toward making progress on using this renewable energy resource. But those rules are on hold and are likely to be changed to the point where it will be impractical for companies interested in locating wind farms to do business in Wisconsin.

This is not only shortsighted in development of renewable energy sources, it is also a job-killer because the companies that now make wind turbines in Wisconsin are already talking about relocating to states where wind power is welcomed.

The easy thing to do is to keep relying on oil and coal to power our cars and heat our homes. The wise thing is to develop a long-range plan that relies on renewable energy.

Anaerobic digesters valuable for odor control

2011-04-06T10:08:00.001-05:00

From an article by Nathan Phelps in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

A decade ago, anaerobic digesters were somewhat of a novelty on Wisconsin dairy farms.

Use of the systems that convert methane gas from manure to electrical power has increased in recent years in the state and nationally. With an average installation cost of $1.5 million, however, most farms have been unable to adopt the technology.

But some in the ag sector are looking at ways digestion can be brought to smaller operations.

Charles Gould, a Michigan State University Extension educator in nutrient management, said he's optimistic the industry someday will be able to deliver a cost-effective digester to farms with herds around 125 cows — the bulk of the nation's dairy farms.

"There are farms that have small digesters, but there are very few of them," he said. "The goal for the small farmer isn't going to be to produce electricity for the grid. If they're going to produce electricity, it's going to be for their own use."

Gould said he sees an untapped market for smaller digesters.

Smaller farmers "want the benefits of odor control. They want the option of bedding. They want the potential to produce electricity," he said. "They want all the advantages the big boys have, but they're not willing to pay the price.

"They must be affordable, and they must be manageable."

The discussion was part of the two-day Midwest Manure Summit at Lambeau Field in Green Bay this week that drew several hundred attendees, including farmers and businesses in the ag sector.

Open letter from former supporter rips anti-wind group

2011-04-05T11:04:00.004-05:00

A Fox Valley person provided a copy of the following letter to RENEW Wisconsin:

People of Glenmore Township:
PLEASE VOTE RESPONSIBLY!

Dear Fellow Townspeople,

Two months ago, I was a supporter of the BCCRWE [Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy]. I was actively opposing the wind turbines coming into any of the townships in our area, including Glenmore.

But then something happened.

As the March 7th meeting drew closer, I heard disturbing things from members of the BCCRWE. Things that scared me. Even before the meeting took place, there were threats being made towards our town board members if the vote did not go in the favor of the BCCRWE. There were “agendas” being planned, and conspiracies being formed, not only against the project, but against individual people.

On March 7th, I sat quietly through the meeting listening to barbaric accusations, foul language, curses and threats hurled at our town board. Members of the BCCRWE shouted inappropriate and belittling comments and became unruly and disruptive to the point that law enforcement needed to be called. Later, I read accounts of that same meeting, written by the BCCRWE, that were horribly distorted and inaccurate. Actually, they were straight out lies!

On March 16th, I sat through another meeting and watched the same unruly group, once again, disrespect our town leaders. As the members of the BCCRWE were chanting “Shame on you” to the town board, I was the one that was ashamed to have ever been a part of that group.

On April 5th, you have an opportunity to elect new town board members. Many of the candidates are the same people who threatened and disrespected our current board members for following the law. One candidate admitted, her only goal was to terminate wind turbines in the town and then she wants out. Is that the chairperson you want running the entire township? Even for one term?

The recent events of oil spills in the gulf and nuclear plant failures in Japan should make all of us take a second look at wind energy. I realized after the two meetings in March, that the only reason I didn’t want turbines, was because I couldn’t have on of my own. So, I’m a NIMBY.

It’s important, that we have “responsible” leaders in our township. The mob I witnessed at the last two meetings, did not fit that definition. It would be a disaster to have those people who demonstrated irrational, biased and disorderly behavior, become our new leaders. I was embarrassed to have ever been a part of that group.

Since I have seen how threatening and dangerous this group can be, I prefer to sign only as,

A Concerned Townsperson

Green energy industry in limbo

2011-04-04T09:34:00.000-05:00

From an article by Tony Walter in the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

Renewable energy officials throughout Wisconsin are forecasting grim financial and employment futures because of the status of the wind energy industry in the state.

The suspension of wind siting rules by a legislative committee last month and the subsequent cancellation and postponement of wind turbine projects in Northeast Wisconsin has created a chaotic atmosphere for renewable energy and has the potential of driving business out of the state, they say.

Chicago-based Invenergy LLC announced last week that it has canceled the 100-turbine Ledge Wind Project in southern Brown County. Midwest Wind Energy, also of Chicago, also said it is postponing plans to erect turbines in southern Calumet County.

"For a state that has welcomed renewable energy and been very progressive in the past, the decisions that have been made make it very difficult to move forward," said Jeff Anthony, director of business development for the American Wind Energy Association in Milwaukee. "We were right on the edge of having a stable framework in Wisconsin to help us catch up to neighboring states, but now we're falling way behind.

"Wisconsin is one big mecca of uncertainty. . . ."

Michael Vickerman, executive director of Renew Wisconsin, a Madison-based nonprofit that promotes clean-energy strategies for powering the state's economy, said the impact of losing wind energy projects represents a potential $1.5 billion investment loss and 1.6 million job hours.

"The real impact will be on the companies that are in the wind supply tank, the suppliers and builders," Vickerman said. "Wind developers will simply move out."