RENEW Wisconsin Comments on AB 804

On Tuesday, February 10th, 2016, RENEW Wisconsin gave the below comments on AB 804, a bill that proposes to cut $7 million from the Focus on Energy program.

Comments of RENEW Wisconsin

To Joint Finance Committee

AB 804 – Public Service Commission Reform Bill

February 10, 2016, 10 AM Hearing

My name is Tyler Huebner, and I am the Executive Director of RENEW Wisconsin.  RENEW Wisconsin is a membership-based organization that represents over 400 individuals and over 50 businesses in the renewable energy industry in Wisconsin.

Thank you for the opportunity to appear today. My comments today are confined to the Focus on Energy funding portion of this bill.

1. The Focus on Energy Program has historically been, and continues to be, an unqualified success for the state of Wisconsin’s citizens, businesses, and economy. 

The latest evaluation report shows that in 2014, $3.33 in energy-related benefits were provided for every $1 invested in the program.  These annual evaluations are conducted by an independent company.

When economic benefits such as job creation and dollar flows through the Wisconsin economy are included, the program returns double that:  over $6.60 per dollar invested in the Focus on Energy Program.

2.  Wisconsin’s electricity rates are now THE HIGHEST in the Midwest, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.  Businesses and homeowners need programs like Focus on Energy to be able to control their energy bills.

Our electricity rates have increased steadily in Wisconsin over the past 15 years.  From 2000 to 2012, Wisconsin’s average electricity rate increases were the third highest in the whole country – an increase of 80%. 
There is very little that the average Wisconsin citizen or business can do to reverse that trend.

Therefore, having voluntary options for reducing energy bills are critical in this time of continuously rising electric rates.   This is true for homeowners trying to manage their monthly budgets, and even more critical for our businesses who are competing in the marketplace.As one example, Letterhead Press, Inc., is a specialty printing company based in New Berlin. Recently  Letterhead Press used the Focus on Energy program incentives for solar PV to install a large solar installation at their printing facility that would create about 25% of their electricity needs.  The major driving philosophical reason for pursuing this project was, by their calculations, that their electric rates had increased 75% since the year 2000. 

Feeling as though those continuously increasing rates were challenging their global competitiveness, the company started investigating ways they could lock in lower electric rates. They landed on a solar PV installation, which the Focus on Energy program incentives enabled to get the payback down to a level where this business was willing to invest in the project, as compared to other Return-on-Investments the company could make in its business investments.

As rates continue to increase, it is voluntary programs like Focus on Energy that enable businesses who are striving to be competitive  to stay competitive, and residents to continue to have energy and dollar saving options to afford the basic benefit of electricity.

3. Investing in Focus on Energy SAVES all ratepayers by delaying expenses for large power plants

Although all customers pay into the program, in reality all customers benefit far beyond what they pay in.  Without Focus on Energy, Wisconsin utilities would need to make larger investments in power plants that will ultimately cost all ratepayers more.

Conclusion:

The Focus on Energy program is an unqualified success for Wisconsin’s energy policy and utility customers.

We urge you to find a solution that does not reduce the funding and effectiveness of the Focus on Energy program, specifically to amend this bill so that the $7 million is not cut out of the Focus on Energy budget.

Sincerely,

Tyler Huebner
Executive Director

Wisconsin Solar Industry Employs Over  1,900

Wisconsin Solar Industry Employs Over 1,900

Immediate release
February 10, 2016

More information
Tyler Huebner, Executive Director
608.255.4044 x 1
tyler.huebner@renewwisconsin.org

Wisconsin Solar Industry Employs Over 1,900

Today, The Solar Foundation released the state-by-state results of its annual “Solar Jobs Census.”

Wisconsin’s solar industry employs 1,941 workers according to the Census, across installation, manufacturing, sales and distribution, project development, and related sector employment.  That places Wisconsin 26th nationally for the number of solar jobs in the state, and 27th nationally in solar jobs per capita.

The full state-by-state report can be found at http://solarstates.org/, where there is a national map and each state’s data can be accessed.

Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Dane Counties are the three counties with the largest number of solar jobs.  Installation jobs account for over half of the total in Wisconsin.

Nationally, the industry grew again at a 20% clip to over 208,000 workers. The report shows there are now three times as many solar workers nationally as coal workers.

“Solar energy is a job-creation engine,” said Tyler Huebner, RENEW Wisconsin’s Executive Director.  “While Wisconsin’s solar industry employment is holding steady, nationally, the solar industry grew by 20% for the third straight year. In Wisconsin we are not fully harnessing solar energy’s job creation and economic development opportunities to move Wisconsin forward.”

“Wisconsin’s economy will benefit from improved rules and regulations to unlock solar energy’s true potential – rules like better net metering policies, clarifying third-party ownership (solar leasing), and interconnection policies that govern how simple it is for a home or business to connect solar to the local utility grid,” said Huebner.

The Solar Foundation report shows that Wisconsin gets a “D” grade for both net metering – a policy that determines how a customer is credited for extra energy they produce and put on the local electric grid – and interconnection policies.

Selected images from the Wisconsin page of http://solarstates.org appear below:

Registration Now Open for Coulee Region Solar Energy Seminar

Registration Now Open for Coulee Region Solar Energy Seminar

Registration is now open for a Coulee Region solar energy seminar at Western Technical College (WTC) on March 1st. 7 Rivers Alliance, a La Crosse-based economic
development organization, will host this half-day forum in partnership
with WTC, Dairyland Power Cooperative, and Xcel Energy.

Targeting Coulee Region community and business leaders, the seminar will bring together energy professionals from the area to discuss best practices in developing both customer-sited solar systems as well as community-scale projects. John Farrell, director of the Economic Democracy Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Minneapolis, will be the featured speaker.

Where: Lunda Center, Western Technical College, La Crosse
When: March 1, 2016, 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM

For program and registration information, visit their website here.

RENEW Wisconsin 2016 Summit – A Huge Success!

RENEW Wisconsin 2016 Summit – A Huge Success!

“Shaping the Utility of the Future,” our fifth Annual Renewable Energy Policy Summit, was another huge success for the organization.  Held January 21, 2016, it featured thought and action leaders from across the country and leaders from Wisconsin’s utilities and renewable energy industry

The event covered the gamut of opportunities and challenges for increasing renewable energy in Wisconsin. From both the number of attendees, and their feedback so far, we had the best Summit yet!

– 295 registered

– 265 attended

– 56 business and organizational sponsors

– 17 exhibitors

Following some opening remarks from RENEW’s Board President, Carl Siegrist, U.S. Congressman

Mark Pocan gave our audience a warm welcome to Madison, and spoke about the job creation potential of renewable energy and his leadership in Washington, D.C.RENEW’s Tyler Huebner gave a review of 2015’s renewable energy policy impacts and a brief look forward to 2016’s top priorities.  Then, we handed the stage over to our opening keynote speaker.

Mary Powell, CEO of Green Mountain Power: “The Energy Company of the Future”

Mary started her speech with her own personal story. She grew up thinking she would become an artist, with no thought that she would ever become an executive.  She then transitioned into the evolution that she brought to Green Mountain Power, first starting with a cultural change.  She moved the executives out of an office building and into a converted maintenance building next to the line workers. 

That lead to the transition in the electricity side of the business.  Mary’s business background outside of the utility industry taught her that the customer is king, and Green Mountain Power’s customer surveys showed customers wanted low cost energy, and more renewables.  Bucking the traditional thinking that low cost and renewables don’t go together, she challenged her team to figure out how to deliver what their customers want.

The GMP result is “stacking the benefits” as Mary calls it – finding ways to aggregate all the benefits of distributed generation in a way that can lower costs for everyone.  You can learn more about how Green Mountain Power is incorporating renewable and distributed energy, click here.

New Business Models & Policy Impacts: Wisconsin Utility Perspectives

Brian Rude of Dairyland Power, Deborah Erwin of Xcel Energy, and Kevin Westhuis of River Falls comprised representatives of cooperative, investor-owned, and municipal electricity providers for our utility panel.

Moderated by Eric Callisto of Michael Best & Friedrich law firm, the panelists discussed their community solar initiatives and additional renewable projects outlook.  They also discussed the key policy issues at hand:  the U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan, distributed generation, the future of the state’s renewable portfolio standard (or RPS).

Awards & Recognition Ceremony

Over lunch, RENEW’s Michael Vickerman lead the recognition of over 40 of 2015’s best renewable energy projects.  Three categories were recognized:

– Community solar, featuring five electricity providers who installed community solar programs in 2015

– 30 Largest projects, featuring 29 solar and 1 biogas project, the largest renewable energy systems installed in 2015

– “10 to Remember,” highlighting unique partnerships and stories of ten solar installations, from large businesses to community solar to non-profit donation-led models.

James Tong, Spruce Finance, “The Democratization of Energy and the Networked Grid”

James Tong came into the renewable energy space trying to figure out how to increase solar installations.  He came to the conclusion that working with utilities, and sharing both the utilities natural advantages and the solar industries advantages together, will lead to the most solar at the lowest cost.

After realizing that many utilities will have a hard time making the evolution into solar, for both business and regulatory reasons, he has set out to establish a more democratized electricity grid that would enable market-based transactions for distributed resources.    That grid would behave much like the Apple “App Store,” with the utility owning and maintaining the grid as a platform, where valuable third-party providers could provide services. View James’ PowerPoint here.

Driving Markets: Perspectives from the Renewable Energy Industry (presented by S.C. Johnson)

Our day’s final panel featured experts from three critical renewable energy technologies:

– Chris Kunkle, Wind on the Wires

– Steve Dvorak, DVO Digesters (biogas)

– Adam Gusse, H&H Solar

– Amy Heart, Sunrun & The Alliance for Solar Choice

These panelists discussed the market opportunity for their technology, the market barriers, and the policies in Wisconsin that would enable these technologies to grow.  The key policy for wind appears to be the Clean Power Plan, which Chris Kunkle said could lead to 2,000 MW or more of wind generation (Wisconsin currently has about 648 MW).   Solar has benefited from Focus on Energy and strong net metering policies, but these policies and programs need to be continued.  Also, Adam Gusse highlighted working together with utilities on interconnection as an area where time and cost can be saved.  Steve Dvorak of DVO highlighted the various countries and states his company is working in, and the need to re-focus on biogas development in Wisconsin as a win-win-win for renewable energy, our dairy farmers, and our lakes and air.

We hope you will join us next year for another great Renewable Energy Policy Summit!

Check out media coverage of the Summit below:

“Solar Outlook Brightens in Wisconsin” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Tom Content

“Vermont utility exec touts green power, lower electric bills,” Wisconsin State Journal, Judy Newman

“Solar Energy Grows,” Wheeler News Service (Radio), WHBL Sheboygan

“Utility Officials Say Shift Away from Coal Will Be Gradual” WisBusiness.com

“Renewable Energy Proponents Hope for A ‘Revolution’ in Wisconsin” Wisconsin Public Radio

2015’s Best Renewable Energy Projects to Receive Recognition This Week

Immediate release
January 18, 2016

More information
Tyler Huebner, Executive Director
608.255.4044 x 1
tyler.huebner@renewwisconsin.org

2015’s Best Renewable Energy Projects to Receive Recognition This Week

The biggest and best renewable energy installations in 2015 are set to be recognized at Renew Wisconsin’s annual Renewable Energy Summit this Thursday, January 21st in Madison.  The recognition ceremony will take place at 12:45pm, during lunch.  The Summit will be held at the Monona Terrace in Madison; registration starts at 8am and the program runs from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM.

It was a breakout year for solar energy. Over three times as many solar panels were installed in 2015 as the prior year, and the most ever in the state: 7.5 megawatts worth, enough to supply over 900 Wisconsin homes’ annual electricity usage.

The recognition will be bestowed across three categories:

Community Solar, featuring five utility providers who instituted projects where customers can share in the solar production from one centrally located, larger solar array.

2015 Utility-Sponsored Community Solar
Projects in Wisconsin
Electric Provider
Location
Installation Contractor
Project Size (in kW DC)
Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
Fall River
Able Energy
865
River Falls Utilities and WPPI Energy
River Falls
H&H Solar
250
New Richmond Utilities and WPPI Energy
New Richmond
H&H Solar
250
Taylor Electric Cooperative
Medford
Unknown
100
Clark Electric Cooperative
Greenwood
Unknown
53
Total
Capacity                                                                  
                                                   1,518 kW

Noteworthy Solar Collaborations, featuring ten solar projects where creative teams, financing, or customer marketing were utilized to make the projects happen. 

Wisconsin
Renewable Energy Honor Roll
Class of 2015
Projects – Noteworthy Solar Collaborations
Project Participants (including installer)
Project Location(s)
Project Size(s)
(in kW)
Customer category
Central Storage Warehouse/
SunPeak
Madison
741
Food
New Richmond + River Falls
Utilities/WPPI Energy/SunVest
New Richmond, River Falls
500 (2 250 kW arrays in each community)
Utility community solar
Blenker Building Systems/
Central Waters Brewery/Jensen Center/North Wind Renewable Energy
Amherst
220 (3 systems)
Food + manufacturing / non-profit
Fair Share Coalition/ H&H
Solar
Across south central WI
197 (17 systems)
Farm/food
Infinity Retail Services/
Kettle View
Turtle Lake
50 in 2015 (+ 50 kW wind in 2012)
Manufacturing
City of Milwaukee/ MREA/Arch
Electric
Milwaukee
  84 (26 systems)
Local govt.  (group buy)
Kickapoo Coffee Roasters/ VEDC/Ethos
Green Power
Viroqua
  25
Food
Union Cab/ Legacy Solar
Cooperative/ Midwest Solar Power
Madison
  19 (+5 in 2012)
Transportation
Northwest WI Renewable Energy  Learning Center/ Legacy Solar
Osceola
  10
Non-profit
Spring Hill Farm/ North Wind
RE
Prairie Farm
    9
Farm/food (member donations)

Largest Installations, denoting the 31 projects with the largest power capacity that were installed in the year. (Note that some of these are also included in the above two categories.) This category features 30 solar projects alongside Statz B Dairy, where a
“biogas digester” was installed which converts cow manure into usable
biogas for electricity.

Wisconsin Renewable
Energy Honor Roll
Class of 2015
Projects
Thirty-one largest renewable generators installed this
year
Customer
Location
Resource
Utility
Project Size (in kWDC)
Contractor (location)
Forest County
Potawatomi
Crandon, Milwaukee (15 locations)
Solar
WPS, We Energies
922
SunVest Solar
(Pewaukee)
Eau Claire Energy
Cooperative
Fall Creek
Solar
ECEC
863
Able Energy (River Falls)
Central Storage
Warehouse
Madison
Solar
Madison Gas & Electric
741
SunPeak
(Madison)
Statz Brothers
Sun Prairie
Biogas (dairy)
Alliant-WPL
600
DVO (Chilton)
Letterhead Press
New Berlin
Solar
We Energies
337
SunPeak
Rockwell
Automation
Mequon
Solar
We Energies
263
H&H Solar
(Madison)
River Falls
Utilities
River Falls
Solar
RFU (muni)
250
H&H Solar
New Richmond
Utilities
New Richmond
Solar
NRU (muni)
250
H&H Solar
Sisters of St.
Agnes
Fond du Lac
Solar
Alliant-WPL
248
Eland Electric
(Green Bay)
Darlington School
District
Darlington
Solar
Alliant-WPL
156
SunVest Solar
O&H Danish
Bakery
Mt. Pleasant
Solar
We Energies
152
SunVest Solar
Crystal Ball
Farms
Osceola
Solar
Xcel -NSPW
151
Next Energy Solution (Spooner)
Jewelers Mutual
Insurance Company
Neenah
Solar
We Energies
128.5
Energize, LLC (Winneconne)
Stieglitz Dairy
Greenwood
Solar
Clark Electric Cooperative
105.3
Next Energy Solution
Central Waters
Brewery
Amherst
Solar
Alliant-WPL
100.8
North Wind RE (Stevens Point)
Blenker Building
Systems
Amherst
Solar
Alliant-WPL
100.8
North Wind RE
Isthmus
 Engineering
Madison
Solar
MG&E
  99.5
H&H Solar
Precision Plus
Elkhorn
Solar
Elkhorn (muni)
  99
Kettle View RE (Silver Creek)
Animart
Beaver Dam
Solar
Alliant-WPL
  99
Kettle View RE
Organic Valley
Cashton
Solar
Cashton (muni)
  95
Full Spectrum Solar (Madison)
Corrim Company
Oshkosh
Solar
WI Public Service
  92
SunPeak
Components
Company
Brookfield
Solar
We Energies
  78
Convergence Energy (Lake Geneva)
Parmenter
Circle  Apts.
Middleton
Solar
MG&E
  72
Full Spectrum Solar
Oregon Middle
School
Oregon
Solar
Alliant
  62
Full Spectrum Solar
Outpost Nat’l
Foods
Mequon
Solar
We Energies
  56.3
SunVest Solar
Evergreen Credit
Union
Neenah
Solar
We Energies
  56
Eland Electric
Clark Electric
Cooperative
Greenwood
Solar
Clark Electric
  53.3
10K Solar/ Viking Electric (MN)
Excel Patterns
Bonduel
Solar
We Energies
  50.4
Eland Electric
Infinity Retail
Services
Turtle Lake
Solar
Xcel-NSPW
  50
Kettle View RE
Borah Teamwear
Coon Valley
Solar
Xcel-NSPW
  50
Ethos Green Power (Viroqua)
Reynolds Storage
and Transfer
Madison
Solar
MG&E
  48
SunPeak

“Solar energy is growing at exponential rates across the country and we are pleased that Wisconsin is sharing in this American success story with the many great projects installed in 2015,” said Tyler Huebner, Renew Wisconsin’s Executive Director. “However, our Honor Roll shows another stark fact: as a state, we need to prioritize the growth of wind, bioenergy, and hydro power as well as solar in 2016 and beyond. These homegrown energy sources will make Wisconsin better for future generations.”

For more information on the 2016 summit program agenda, speakers, and registration, please visit http://renewwisconsin.org/2016_Summit/

Solar Power Hits the Big Time in  Wisconsin

Solar Power Hits the Big Time in Wisconsin

Immediate release
January 14, 2016

More information
Tyler Huebner, Executive Director
608.255.4044 x 1
tyler.huebner@renewwisconsin.org

Solar Power Hits the Big Time in Wisconsin 

Newest Large Array Energizes Waukesha County Manufacturer

In yet another demonstration of solar energy’s growing appeal to commercial and industrial customers, Letterhead Press recently joined the growing roster of Wisconsin companies turning to the sun to power their operations.

Located in New Berlin, Letterhead Press now derives about 25% of the electricity consumed at its 120,000-square foot facility on Ryerson Road from a 300 kilowatt (AC) solar array. Situated on a parking lot behind the production facility, Letterhead’s array was the fourth largest solar system installed in Wisconsin last year (see table below), and is now the largest in Waukesha County.

The facility was dedicated Tuesday at an event organized by Letterhead Press and featuring remarks from Letterhead Press CEO Mike Graf, Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow, New Berlin Mayor Dave Ament, Sun Peak (the solar project developer and contractor), Focus on Energy, the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, and RENEW Wisconsin.

“2015 was a banner year for solar generation in the Badger State,” said RENEW Wisconsin’s Executive Director Tyler Huebner. “Growth was especially strong among larger customers looking to take advantage of solar power’s declining costs to help them control their escalating energy expenses.”

Solar was the fastest growing generation resource in Wisconsin in 2015, expanding from 18 megawatts (MW) at the beginning of the year to more than 25 MW at year’s end. Solar power expanded even more vigorously elsewhere in the United States, with 7,500 MW–the equivalent of Wisconsin’s increase 1,000 times over–coming on line last year.

In addition to being a cost-effective source of electricity for business and institutional customers, solar power supports a national industry that employs more than 208,000 people, according to the most recent solar jobs report conducted by The Solar Foundation. Solar industry employment grew 12 times faster than the overall U.S. workforce. About 1,900 solar jobs are located in Wisconsin, according to the previous year’s report.

Letterhead Press will be one of several dozen solar generation owners recognized at RENEW Wisconsin’s fifth annual Renewable Energy Policy Summit set for Thursday, January 21, 2016, at Monona Terrace in Madison. The theme of the event, “Shaping the Utility of the Future,” will delve into the rapidly changing electric utility environment and examine business models under which utilities and customers can work bring more clean energy into the Wisconsin energy mix.

For more information on the 2016 summit program agenda, speakers, and registration, please visit   http://renewwisconsin.org/2016_Summit/

31 Largest Solar
Electric Systems Installed in Wisconsin in 2015
Customer
Location
Utility
Project Size (in kWDC)
Contractor (location)
Forest County Potawatomi
Crandon (15 locations), Milwaukee
WPS, We Energies
922
SunVest Solar
(Pewaukee)
Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
Fall Creek
ECEC
863
Able Energy (River Falls)
Central Storage Warehouse
Madison
Madison Gas & Electric
741
SunPeak
(Madison)
Letterhead Press
New Berlin
We Energies
337
SunPeak
Rockwell Automation
Mequon
We Energies
263
H&H Solar
(Madison)
River Falls Utilities
River Falls
RFU (muni)
250
H&H Solar
New Richmond Utilities
New Richmond
NRU (muni)
250
H&H Solar
Sisters of St. Agnes
Fond du Lac
Alliant-WPL
248
Eland Electric
(Green Bay)
Darlington School District
Darlington
Alliant-WPL
156
SunVest Solar
O&H Danish Bakery
Mt. Pleasant
We Energies
152
SunVest Solar
Crystal Ball Farms
Osceola
Xcel-NSPW
151
Next Energy Solution (Spooner)
Jewelers Mutual Insurance
Company
Neenah
We Energies
128.5
Energize, LLC (Winneconne)
Stieglitz Dairy
Greenwood
Clark Electric Cooperative
105.3
Next Energy Solution
Central Waters Brewery
Amherst
Alliant-WPL
100.8
North Wind RE (Stevens Point)
Blenker Building Systems
Amherst
Alliant-WPL
100.8
North Wind RE
Taylor Electric Cooperative
Medford
Taylor
100
10K Solar/ Viking Electric
Isthmus
 Engineering
Madison
MG&E
  99.5
H&H Solar
Precision Plus
Elkhorn
Elkhorn (muni)
  99
Kettle View RE (Silver Creek)
Animart
Beaver Dam
Alliant-WPL
  99
Kettle View RE
Organic Valley
Cashton
Cashton (muni)
  95
Full Spectrum Solar (Madison)
Corrim Company
Oshkosh
WI Public Service
  92
SunPeak
Components Company
Brookfield
We Energies
  78
Convergence Energy (Lake Geneva)
Parmenter Circle  Apts.
Middleton
MG&E
  72
Full Spectrum Solar
Oregon Middle School
Oregon
Alliant
  62
Full Spectrum Solar
Outpost Nat’l Foods
Mequon
We Energies
  56.3
SunVest Solar
Evergreen Credit Union
Neenah
We Energies
  56
Eland Electric
Clark Electric Cooperative
Greenwood
Clark Electric
  53.3
10K Solar/ Viking Electric (MN)
Excel Patterns
Bonduel
We Energies
  50.4
Eland Electric
Infinity Retail Services
Turtle Lake
Xcel-NSPW
  50
Kettle View RE
Borah Teamwear
Coon Valley
Xcel-NSPW
  49
Ethos Green Power (Viroqua)
Reynolds Storage and Transfer
Madison
MG&E
  48
SunPeak

Prepared by: RENEW Wisconsin, January 2016