by jboullion | Oct 12, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Chris Hubbuch in the La Crosse Tribune:
The White House announced plans Wednesday to speed up federal approval of a controversial high voltage power line planned for the area.
The CapX2020 line, which will connect power stations in Hampton, Minn., Rochester and La Crosse, was one of seven projects tagged by the Obama administration as key for creating jobs while modernizing the nation’s electric system.
“To compete in the global economy, we need a modern electricity grid,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement. “An upgraded electricity grid will give consumers choices while promoting energy savings, increasing energy efficiency and fostering the growth of renewable energy resources.”
The accelerated process will not affect state approval processes already under way, said Sahar Wali, spokeswoman for the Council on Environmental Quality. It will instead speed up federal processing by encouraging cooperation between agencies.
Tim Carlsgaard, spokesman for the consortium of utility companies including Xcel Energy and Dairyland Power Cooperative, said he hopes that means the federal process will be done by the time Minnesota and Wisconsin complete their reviews, likely in mid 2012.
CapX will need federal approval from as many as four federal agencies, including the Rural Utility Service. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Army Corps of Engineers will also have a say in how and where the line crosses the Mississippi River near Alma, Wis.
Joe Morse is a spokesman for the Citizens Energy Task Force, which opposes the project. He thinks the federal government is overstepping its bounds and pressuring states to hasten approval despite local opposition. Several towns have passed resolutions opposing the line, and a La Crosse County committee this week asked for more study.
by jboullion | Oct 10, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Clay Barbour in the LaCrosse Tribune:
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.”
by jboullion | Oct 6, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Sean Ryan in the Business Journal:
City of Milwaukee streetcar supporters, including Mayor Tom Barrett, on Wednesday rallied against the proposal to give Milwaukee County buses up to $54.9 million in federal grants dedicated to the streetcar.
Milwaukee Alds. Joe Dudzik and Bob Donovan and County Board Supervisor Mark Borkowski on Wednesday called for an April referendum on the project and requested U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore sponsor federal legislation to give county buses the federal money that was earmarked for the streetcar. Donovan listed his concerns about the project, including the potentially high cost of moving utilities for the streetcar tracks, operating costs and potential ridership.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Donovan, Dudzik and Borkowski have a history of being hostile toward transit and said many of their arguments have been made before. He said the three did not participate in a push made earlier this year to urge the state to restore money for the county transit system that was cut in the state budget.
“Where were these three individuals?” Barrett said. “They were nowhere, because they’ve never had an interest in improving transit in this community.”
The federal grant for the 2.1-mile downtown streetcar is the city’s share of $91.5 million in transit money Congress approved in 1991 for projects in Milwaukee County. A Congressional budget bill approved in 2009 earmarked $54.9 million for the city and $36.6 million for the county. As approved by Congress, the money can only be spent on capital projects, not on system operations.
by jboullion | Oct 5, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
A Marathon County judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed this summer by opponents of the We Energies biomass power plant near Wausau.
The local group Save Our Air Resources and the Massachusetts-based Biomass Accountability Project had sued the state Department of Natural Resources challenging its approval of the project, which would burn wood waste and wood residues left over from logging operations.
The plant was proposed by We Energies along with the paper company Domtar, which will host the project at its Rothschild paper mill.
The $255 million project is needed to help We Energies comply with the state’s renewable energy target.
In a ruling Thursday, Marathon County Judge Michael Moran ruled in favor of the DNR that the lawsuit was filed late and by a lawyer
“It was filed late and it was filed by an out-of-state attorney,” Moran said, according to an audio recording posted online by the Wausau radio station WSAU.
by jboullion | Oct 5, 2011 | Uncategorized
by jboullion | Oct 3, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article on BizTimesDaily:
If proposed cuts are made to the Milwaukee County Transit System, a minimum of 13,553 jobs in locations currently served by MCTS would become inaccessible for people without cars, according to a new report by the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Center for Economic Development.
“Included in the proposed budget for 2012 are a series of route eliminations and other service reductions that, if implemented, would reduce both fixed route services and hours of operation by roughly 12 percent. It has become a familiar story for MCTS, which has been forced to reduce service, raise fares, or both every year since 2001 to close chronic budget gaps. These cuts have made it increasingly difficult for transit-dependent workers and job seekers to access employment opportunities in the Milwaukee metro area, contributing to Milwaukee’s poverty rate of 27 percent, fourth highest in the nation among cities with 250,000 or more residents,” the report stated.
The county’s transit crisis is made worse by Gov. Scott Walker’s budget, which imposes a 10-percent across-the-board cut in the state’s operating assistance for public transit systems, the report stated.
“Due to a provision in the budget that limits increases in the property tax levy for counties and municipalities, there is little the County can do to offset the loss of state funding with additional local revenue sources,” the report stated.
