by jboullion | Sep 22, 2015 | Uncategorized
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| Gaea’s Farm Wind Turbines |
Our 3rd annual Ride with RENEW took place this past Sunday, September 20th and was a great success! We had beautiful weather, saw some great renewable energy installations, and not only did we meet our $15,000 fundraising goal, we passed it!
RENEW would like to thank all of you who sent your support and donations to us for our Ride with RENEW bike tour event. So far, 212 of you donated over $15,000 to support this event and work toward a clean, renewable energy future in Wisconsin. Thanks to you, we were able to meet John and Mary Frantz’s fundraising challenge of $15,000 which they agreed to match, bringing our total to over $30,000! We are humbled by John and Mary’s continued generosity towards RENEW Wisconsin, and thank them for all their support over the years.
We also had our highest biker turn out ever, with 36 riders joining us in Lake Geneva! Thank you to everyone who came out and rode for renewable energy.
We want to share with you some of the highlights of the bike ride, so we created a photo album on our Facebook page.
The 2015 Ride, our third annual, was our biggest and best one yet!
– 6 excellent renewable energy stops
– 36 riders
– 24 miles ridden by each rider
– 4 riders rode an extra 12 miles out to the solar farm, while the rest met us there by car
– About 850 kilowatts of renewable energy capacity visited
– Special thanks to our sponsors featured below, plus Potbelly’s and Jimmy Johns for lunch:
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| Johnson LEED Platinum House |
We began our journey with the toughest segment of hills, up to the LEED Platinum certified house of Steve & Karen Johnson of Convergence Energy, our co-host. Steve showed us his beautiful home, as well as the solar PV installation on his garage.
From there we ventured over to Gaea’s Farm on State Line Road. Gaea’s Farm provides stable space for horse owners, and also has an arena for shows. The net-zero energy facility includes 100 kW of solar, two small wind turbines, and geothermal pipes which keep the horse barn cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Next, we stopped by Easy Living Equine Sanctuary, a horse rescue operation. Here, we not only viewed another excellent solar installation, but we had lunch (thanks Convergence Energy, Jimmy Johns, and Potbelly for your contributions!) with a great view and made friends with some of the horses.
After that, we visited Engerman Contracting, who installed its own solar panels after installing clean energy for several clients. Our last stop on the main loop was the Franke residence, an Engerman client with solar shingles on their roof.
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| Solar Farm at Osborn Property |
Then, four people biked and the rest of us drove out to the Convergence Energy solar farm, hosted on the property of Dan and Sandy Osborn. The solar farm is 680 kilowatts of solar, one of the largest solar installations in the state of Wisconsin.
All in all, it was a fantastic Sunday at the end of September, riding for a really great cause and fun adventure. Many thanks to all who participated as riders, sponsors, supporters, logistic planners, and renewable site owners. Special thanks to John and Mary Frantz who are doubling the efforts of all our Ride sponsors with their match, and also to John Kivlin and Steve Johnson of Convergence Energy, who did a wonderful job planning our route and stops for the day.
If you donated $35 or more, you are now considered a member of RENEW and we are happy to have you with us. You will receive e-newsletters from us and can keep up to date via our website and blog. We have a number of events coming up around the state, so be sure to check out our events calendar.
by jboullion | Sep 2, 2015 | Uncategorized
Alex Nussbaum of Bloomberg News published an article on Wednesday telling the nation what we Wisconsinites already know: when it comes to renewables, Governor and Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker has made it harder for renewable energy businesses here than any other Midwestern state.
The article opens: “Scott Walker’s up-and-down campaign for the Republican presidential nod has produced at least one constant: As far as wind and solar developers are concerned, the Wisconsin governor may be the worst man for the job.”
Read the full article here, which includes quotes from RENEW’s Executive Director Tyler Huebner, and Board Member Amy Heart of The Alliance for Solar Choice.
Below are some graphs from the Bloomberg article showing how Wisconsin is lagging behind our Midwestern neighbors in both wind and solar development under Governor Walker’s administration.
by jboullion | Aug 31, 2015 | Uncategorized
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s editorial board published this past Sunday a commentary in praise of Alliant Energy’s solar research project on its Madison headquarters. In so doing, the editorial board criticized the various anti-solar policies now established in Wisconsin. As it noted, “the solar movement took a hit last fall when the Public Service Commission voted to allow utilities to impose sharp increases in the fixed charge on customers’ monthly bills, pay less for clean power that customers generate, and charge customers and extra fee for installation solar collectors on their roofs.”
Read the full article here!
by jboullion | Aug 24, 2015 | Uncategorized
The Wisconsin State Journal wrote
an article featuring Sun Prairie-based Statz Brothers, the host of this year’s Farm Technology Days, detailing their expansion project that includes a second manure digester, making it one of the state’s most sustainable dairy operations. They are also becoming one of the most technologically advanced with the addition of a state-of-the-art milking parlor and feed operation and three freestall barns that can each house 800 cows. They have the look of a bovine day spa with high-quality bedding created by the digesters, overhead fans and cool-water misters.
Further in the article, there is a discussion on the economics of generating electricity from manure. The reporter was confused about the terminology used in pricing power. Here is the translation: Alliant pays Statz Bros. 10 cents/kilowatt-hour for electricity produced from the first digester. However, it offered Statz only three cents/kilowatt-hour for power from the second biodigester, which is why Alliant is using all the power from the second biodigester in house.
Also from the article: “Richard [Statz] said he plans to mention that to Gov. Scott Walker, who is expected to make an appearance at Farm Tech Days. “Farmers want to be good stewards of the environment but we can’t go broke doing it,” Richard said.”
Read the full article here, and also see this article from Biomass Magazine for more details on the second biodigester at the Statz Brothers operation.
IF YOU GO
Wisconsin Farm Technology Days runs
Tuesday through
Thursday at 5966 Town Hall Dr., Sun Prairie, WI. 53590. Event hours are
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Admission is $6 per person. Youth under 12 are admitted free. Parking is free. For traffic and parking information, visit
www.dancecofarmtech.com.
by jboullion | Aug 17, 2015 | Uncategorized
La Crosse Channel 8000 highlights two new solar installations: both Kickapoo Coffee Roasters in Viroqua and the Old Oak Family Farm in Bangor were able to choose solar for their businesses after receiving grants from the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), reducing the cost of their installation.
See the video and learn more below!
http://www.news8000.com/news/local-companies-reduce-carbon-footprint-through-federal-grants/34539072
by jboullion | Jul 21, 2015 | Uncategorized
In its annual review of renewable energy compliance efforts by Wisconsin electric providers, the Public Service Commission has determined that Wisconsin has exceeded the 10% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) once again in 2014, a year before the 2015 deadline.
This standard led to an estimated $2.3 billion dollars of investment in clean power, creating jobs and strengthening our economy.
Meeting this standard is a success for Wisconsin and should be celebrated. However, we need to explore new and expanded policies that can help us compete with our neighboring states on renewable energy.
Electric providers were required to increase the amount of electricity from renewables per the RPS. In aggregate, a statewide goal of 10% by 2015 was established. As seen in the list below, most of the major electric providers are well-positioned to meet their 2015 requirements, with only two falling a bit short.
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Wisconsin Electric Provider Renewable Energy Compliance
Report – 2014
|
| Electric Provider |
2014 RE Supply as a percentage of 2015 requirement |
WPPI
Energy |
159% |
Dairyland
Power Cooperative |
152% |
Xcel
– NSPW |
152% |
Madison
Gas & Electric |
137% |
Alliant
– WPL |
124% |
We
Energies |
96% |
Wisconsin
Public Service |
93% |
According to the report, “Collectively, electric providers
have built enough renewable facilities and procured enough power
purchase agreements and bankable renewable energy credits to easily remain in compliance
through 2020 and likely beyond.”
As indicated in the table below, a little over half (52%)
of the renewable electricity supplying WI utilities is generated in other
states. Wind accounts for 63%, followed by hydro at 21.2% and biomass (wood, biogas, landfill gas, and other) at just shy of 16%.
| Renewable energy resource and areas of origin |
Percentage of statewide utility RE supply |
Wind
(out-of-state) |
45% |
Wind
(in-state) |
18% |
Hydro
(in-state) |
17% |
Biomass
(in-state) |
13% |
Hydro
(out-of-state) |
5% |
Biomass
(out-of-state) |
2% |
Tom Content of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote an article
last week on how other states are pursuing even greater Renewable
Energy Standards, and that Wisconsin is lagging behind.
We will continue to advocate for increased clean energy development in Wisconsin so that more investment will be brought to Wisconsin companies and Wisconsin workers, making the Badger State a better place to live now, and in the future.
Below are some graphics from the full report.
