by jboullion | Mar 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article in the Beaver Dam Daily Citizen:
Wisconsin Power & Light is poised to boost its investment in wind power – if state regulators approve the Madison utility company’s plan to develop the Bent Tree wind farm in southeastern Minnesota.
WPL has an agreement with NextEra Energy Resources, a Juno Beach, Fla., subsidiary of FPL Group, to buy power from NextEra’s wind farm in Crystal Lake, Iowa. It calls for 100 megawatts a year for 25 years with an additional 100 megawatts from the same location for one year.
As part of the deal, WPL could obtain rights from NextEra to build a wind farm in Green Lake, about 70 miles northeast of Madison.
“We don’t have any plans, at this point, when or if or how we would develop that site,” said Rob Crain, spokesman for WPL parent, Alliant Energy. “But certainly, we view it as a quality site … that provides us with flexibility down the line.”
NextEra had objected to WPL’s Bent Tree proposal, saying WPL should instead buy power from Crystal Lake. “As the case proceeded, we (decided) it didn’t have to be an either/or scenario,” Crain said.
He said the agreement with NextEra could be one piece of WPL’s alternative to a proposed power plant at Cassville.
The state Public Service Commission rejected plans in late 2008 for the 300-megawatt, mostly coal-fired generator with up to 20 percent of its fuel from waste agricultural products, saying the proposal was too costly and would create too much pollution.
WPL also is considering small, biomass-only power plants, Crain said, as well as turning a natural gas-fired power plant used now just for peak times into a combined-cycle plant that uses waste heat to create additional energy.
by jboullion | Mar 12, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article in The Capital Times:
Wisconsin will receive almost $200 million from the economic stimulus package in weatherization and energy funding, according to an announcement Thursday by Gov. Jim Doyle.
The $196,990,133 in funding includes $141,502,133 for the Weatherization Assistance Program and another $55,488,000 for the State Energy Program.
Doyle also announced Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu will be in Wisconsin on Friday. While in Wisconsin, the two will meet with local energy, business, and labor leaders and help weatherize a Milwaukee home.
“This important funding puts hardworking Wisconsin families to work and puts our state and country on a path towards energy independence,” Doyle said. “I look forward to partnering with Secretary Chu and the Obama administration in charting a cleaner and brighter future for generations to come.”
Almost $8 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will go to weatherization of homes, including adding more insulation, sealing leaks and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment, which is expected to pay for itself many times over.
The Weatherization Assistance Program will allow an average investment of up to $6,500 per home in energy efficiency upgrades and will be available for families making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $44,000 a year for a family of four.
For more information on energy assistance or weatherization needs for qualified residential households, call 866-432-8947.
by jboullion | Mar 12, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Focus on Energy:
With potato-processing plants around the world, McCain Foods has a total production capacity to make more than one million pounds of french fries an hour. In fact, the company makes one-third of all frozen french fries in the world. Despite the high performance required by its plants, saving energy is no small potatoes for McCain Foods.
With the help of Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and renewable energy initiative, McCain Foods’ plants in Appleton, Fort Atkinson, Plover and Rice Lake, Wis. have reduced energy consumption by 4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and 647,688 therms of natural gas annually – enough energy to power 1,070 homes for a year. The company will also save $875,000 on its energy bills each year.
“Focus on Energy was an invaluable asset to help us find energy saving solutions,” said Andrew Green, plant engineering manager at McCain Foods. “Their technical expertise and assistance have assured us that we’ll see a strong return on investment for our projects.”
Since 2008, McCain Foods has received $485,000 in cash incentives from Focus on Energy to boost its efforts toward becoming more energy efficient. Together, the company’s four Wisconsin plants have completed many energy saving projects, including plant-wide lighting upgrades, heating and cooling system improvements, updates to compressed-air systems, the installation of a variable-speed drive on a wastewater-treatment system and more.
But the biggest energy saver is an innovative heat recovery system installed at the Plover plant last month. The system captures “waste” heat from the plant’s three exhaust stacks and uses it to preheat water for the boiler system. Reusing this heat enables the plant to significantly reduce its natural gas use and saves $594,000 a year. Focus awarded a $300,000 incentive to help get the project off the ground.
by jboullion | Mar 12, 2009 | Uncategorized
Jenny Heinzen, RENEW president and wind technology instrutor at Lakeshore Technical College, took this photo the V-17 wind turbine above the Mequon campus of the Milwaukee Area Technical College.
An article by Tom Kertscher in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on the turbine when it became operational:
Mequon – The largest wind turbine on a technical college campus in Wisconsin has been erected at Milwaukee Area Technical College in Mequon, where officials hope that what’s been dubbed “Blades of Freedom” will reduce campus energy costs and help train students for sustainable energy jobs of the future.
The turbine, which at 160 feet high and 56 feet wide easily is visible from Highland Road, also is aimed at raising awareness among the public about renewable sources of energy, said Michael Townsend, vice president of the Mequon campus.
Facebook subscirbers can see more photos in Jenny’s photo album.
by jboullion | Mar 12, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article in The Capital Times:
Wisconsin will receive almost $200 million from the economic stimulus package in weatherization and energy funding, according to an announcement Thursday by Gov. Jim Doyle.
The $196,990,133 in funding includes $141,502,133 for the Weatherization Assistance Program and another $55,488,000 for the State Energy Program.
Doyle also announced Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu will be in Wisconsin on Friday. While in Wisconsin, the two will meet with local energy, business, and labor leaders and help weatherize a Milwaukee home.
“This important funding puts hardworking Wisconsin families to work and puts our state and country on a path towards energy independence,” Doyle said. “I look forward to partnering with Secretary Chu and the Obama administration in charting a cleaner and brighter future for generations to come.”
Almost $8 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will go to weatherization of homes, including adding more insulation, sealing leaks and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment, which is expected to pay for itself many times over.
The Weatherization Assistance Program will allow an average investment of up to $6,500 per home in energy efficiency upgrades and will be available for families making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $44,000 a year for a family of four.
For more information on energy assistance or weatherization needs for qualified residential households, call 866-432-8947.
by jboullion | Mar 11, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Kevin Murphy in the La Crosse Tribune:
MADISON — Xcel Energy customers could choose to have more of the electricity they use come from renewable sources if the Wisconsin Public Service Commission approves a request Xcel submitted Friday.
The Voluntary Renewable Energy Source program would allow Xcel to charge $1.15 per 100 kilowatts for power produced by wind, solar or biomass sources but not from hydro, said David Donovan, Xcel’s manager of regulatory policy.
For typical residential customers using 750 kilowatts of power a month, the “green pricing” premium would add $8.62 to their existing $81.57 bill.
Xcel is the last utility in the state to offer an optional green energy plan for customers, Donovan said, but the company generates 14 percent of its power from renewable sources and has added 1,200 megawatts of wind power in recent years.
“Now there is a demand for it. Not just from residential customers, but commercial and industrial customers are interested in renewables beyond our base rate,” he said.
