by jboullion | May 10, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Steve Cahalan in the La Crosse Tribune:
A Massachusetts company hopes to develop hydroelectric projects at nine upper Mississippi River lock and dam sites by 2017, officials said Monday.
Free Flow Power Corp., a 3-year-old Boston firm, plans to apply for federal licenses for hydropower projects that in this area include Lock and Dam 4 at Alma, Lock and Dam 6 at Trempealeau, Lock and Dam 7 near Dresbach, Minn., and Lock and Dam 9 near Lynxville.
The nine projects could meet the electricity needs of 65,000 homes, company officials told about 40 people at a public informational meeting at the Radisson Hotel in La Crosse.
Each project would have one of three designs — a traditional hydroelectric powerhouse that would be built on the end of the dam and contain turbines; a “gate bay installation” alternative with turbines installed in front of or behind existing dam gates; or a system with turbines installed at the bottom of the auxiliary lock. Studies would determine which design would be best for a particular lock and dam.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Agency will accept written comments in the next 60 days on what studies should be required during Free Flow Power’s licensing process.
Officials of various state and federal agencies accounted for most of the people at Monday’s 2½-hour session. But a few members of the public also spoke, including retired boat captain Byron Clements of Genoa, who questioned the feasibility of hydroelectric power on the Mississippi.
“I don’t think they can make it work and make money at it,” Clements said after the meeting. Clements, who with his wife operates Captain Hook’s Bait & Tackle shop in Genoa, said he also is concerned about fish being killed by the turbines.
The proposed turbines would turn much slower than those traditionally used in major hydroelectric projects in the western United States, said Jack Batchelder, a Free Flow Power environmental scientist.
by jboullion | May 10, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in The New York Times:
None of the money in Monday’s announcement will be going to Wisconsin, for example, where Gov. Scott Walker has also decided that his strapped state could do without rail improvements and the construction jobs that go with them. Nor will it go to Ohio, where Gov. John Kasich preferred rejectionism to the improvement of rail service among the state’s largest cities, which could have produced 16,000 jobs.
Instead, it will go to 15 states that have more farsighted leadership, who understand the important role federal dollars can play in stimulating the economy, moving people quickly from place to place and reducing tailpipe emissions. Some of those states are led by Republicans: Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan happily stood beside Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Monday to accept nearly $200 million to upgrade the rail line between Dearborn and Kalamazoo, the bulk of the Chicago-Detroit corridor.
by jboullion | May 10, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Steve Cahalan in the La Crosse Tribune:
A Massachusetts company hopes to develop hydroelectric projects at nine upper Mississippi River lock and dam sites by 2017, officials said Monday.
Free Flow Power Corp., a 3-year-old Boston firm, plans to apply for federal licenses for hydropower projects that in this area include Lock and Dam 4 at Alma, Lock and Dam 6 at Trempealeau, Lock and Dam 7 near Dresbach, Minn., and Lock and Dam 9 near Lynxville.
The nine projects could meet the electricity needs of 65,000 homes, company officials told about 40 people at a public informational meeting at the Radisson Hotel in La Crosse.
Each project would have one of three designs — a traditional hydroelectric powerhouse that would be built on the end of the dam and contain turbines; a “gate bay installation” alternative with turbines installed in front of or behind existing dam gates; or a system with turbines installed at the bottom of the auxiliary lock. Studies would determine which design would be best for a particular lock and dam.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Agency will accept written comments in the next 60 days on what studies should be required during Free Flow Power’s licensing process.
Officials of various state and federal agencies accounted for most of the people at Monday’s 2½-hour session. But a few members of the public also spoke, including retired boat captain Byron Clements of Genoa, who questioned the feasibility of hydroelectric power on the Mississippi.
“I don’t think they can make it work and make money at it,” Clements said after the meeting. Clements, who with his wife operates Captain Hook’s Bait & Tackle shop in Genoa, said he also is concerned about fish being killed by the turbines.
The proposed turbines would turn much slower than those traditionally used in major hydroelectric projects in the western United States, said Jack Batchelder, a Free Flow Power environmental scientist.
by jboullion | May 9, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Larry Sandler in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Wisconsin was shut out Monday in its bid for $150 million in federal money to upgrade the Milwaukee-to-Chicago Hiawatha line.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that 22 projects in 15 states would share $2 billion in federal high-speed rail money that had been rejected by Florida.
Wisconsin was seeking some of that money for train sets, locomotives and a maintenance base for the Hiawatha line. But while LaHood’s announcement listed $268.2 million for five other Midwestern states that had joined Wisconsin in the application, it made no mention of the Badger State.
Officials at the state and federal transportation departments confirmed that no money would be awarded to Wisconsin. The federal agency had previously yanked an $810 million grant to this state after newly elected Gov. Scott Walker refused to use it to extend the Hiawatha from Milwaukee to Madison, a 110-mph stretch that would have been part of a larger plan to connect Chicago to the Twin Cities and other Midwestern destinations with fast, frequent trains.
In a telephone news conference, LaHood did not directly answer a question about whether Monday’s decision was related to Walker’s previous stand, which reversed 20 years of planning by predecessor administrations of both parties. But he repeatedly used the word “reliable” in characterizing the leadership of the states that were selected for the latest round of grants.
“The announcements we’re making today are with the strongest partners in America,” LaHood told reporters. “These are reliable people. These are people (who) have as one of their highest priorities the development of high-speed rail.”
Walker is a Republican, as are the newly elected Florida and Ohio governors who also rejected federally funded rail projects. LaHood is a former GOP congressman serving in Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration. But several of the states that won high-speed rail grants Monday are led by Republican governors, including Indiana, where Walker has cited Gov. Mitch Daniels as a role model.
by jboullion | May 9, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article in the Stevens Point Journal:
ROTHSCHILD — State regulators indicated support of construction plans for a biomass plant in Rothschild on Friday, a major step in a lengthy and often contentious debate over a $255 million project backed by Milwaukee utility We Energies and Domtar Paper.
Two members of the state’s Public Service Commission pushed for and received more concessions from the project’s sponsors, concerned that the utility’s ratepayers still are taking the biggest risk. We Energies and Domtar either can contribute $10 million more toward operating costs or increase the rate Domtar will pay for steam produced by the plant.
The PSC also will have the authority to review future changes to the rate Domtar pays We Energies for steam, which is used in its paper-making process.
The plant is part of We Energies’ effort to meet the state’s renewable energy requirements for utilities by 2015, buoyed by federal tax credits available to facilities that are operational by the end of 2013. We Energies has promised the project will create about 400 construction jobs and 150 jobs in Central Wisconsin for industries supporting the plant, and Domtar argues the change will allow them to compete in an increasingly testy paper industry.
by jboullion | May 9, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in The Journal Times, Racine:
In a lamentable vote last week, state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, led the state’s Joint Finance Committee to vote 12-4 along party lines to do away with recently authorized regional transit authorities in southeastern Wisconsin and four other areas of the state.
It is a boneheaded and short-sighted maneuver that could well ring the death knell for commuter rail linking Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee and Chicago.
Unlike the high-speed rail proposed for Milwaukee to Madison by former Democratic Gov. James Doyle, KRM would connect a corridor of highly populated areas in the southeastern corner of the state. It would give businesses access to willing workers through the region, provide those workers with the means to get to jobs, give residents a car-free alternative to taking in the sights, recreational and entertainment offerings of Chicago and Milwaukee — and it would lessen the reliance on the Interstate highway system.
It was perhaps prophetic that the Vos-led vote last week came as gasoline pump prices roared well past $4 per gallon.
For good measure, the Joint Finance Committee also threw state funding for bike and pedestrian paths under the bus as well, eliminating $5 million in spending over the next two years.
Vos said the transit authorities were unpopular, unelected “abomominations” as he guided the vote for disbandonment.
Unlike during the Gov. Tommy Thompson era, in recent years Republicans have taken a Goldilocks and the Three Bears approach toward mass transit, complaining that plans — whatever plans — were too hot, too cold, too this, too that. The unelected “abomination” criticism from Vos that transit authorities would spend tax money, even though their boards were not elected, feeds into the recent rise in anti-taxing frenzy — including an advisory referendum in Racine County on “new taxes” for transit or rail that was defeated by a large margin.
In fact, Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget would have preserved transit authorities, but required a binding referendum before an authority could levy a tax.
That’s a more reasoned approach . . .
