by jboullion | Jan 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Judy Newman in the Wisconsin State Journal:
If you’re a Wisconsin Power & Light customer, you may soon pay more for electricity.
WPL is expected to file an emergency request with state regulators for permission to raise rates. Just last month, the Madison utility company agreed to hold electric rates steady for 2009 and reduce natural-gas rates by $4 million.
The reason: the recession.
WPL is losing millions of dollars in revenues that had been pouring in when business was booming and factories were busy. Now, the General Motors plant in Janesville is down to a few dozen workers and the Domtar paper mill at Port Edwards is closed. Both were among WPL’s top 10 power users.
Throughout southern Wisconsin, untold numbers of businesses are paring production and staff. That means less electricity is being used and WPL is collecting less money.
“We are sharing the pain being felt across our service territory,” Bill Harvey, chairman and chief executive of WPL’s parent company, Alliant Energy, told a conference call with analysts in December.
WPL won’t say how much electricity GM and Domtar had been using but said that together, the price they paid for power amounted to 1 percent of the utility’s revenues.
Harvey projected WPL’s sales this year will be 6.4 percent, or $30 million, lower than those anticipated in the recent rate settlement, which was based on 2007 figures. “Because of this significant downward shift in forecasts, we will likely file an emergency rate case,” he told analysts. . . .
Madison Gas & Electric and Milwaukee-based We Energies said they have no plans to seek a rate boost based on recession-impaired revenues. But both of those utilities have discussed the possibility of seeking increases to help meet pension costs.
by jboullion | Jan 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Judy Newman in the Wisconsin State Journal:
If you’re a Wisconsin Power & Light customer, you may soon pay more for electricity.
WPL is expected to file an emergency request with state regulators for permission to raise rates. Just last month, the Madison utility company agreed to hold electric rates steady for 2009 and reduce natural-gas rates by $4 million.
The reason: the recession.
WPL is losing millions of dollars in revenues that had been pouring in when business was booming and factories were busy. Now, the General Motors plant in Janesville is down to a few dozen workers and the Domtar paper mill at Port Edwards is closed. Both were among WPL’s top 10 power users.
Throughout southern Wisconsin, untold numbers of businesses are paring production and staff. That means less electricity is being used and WPL is collecting less money.
“We are sharing the pain being felt across our service territory,” Bill Harvey, chairman and chief executive of WPL’s parent company, Alliant Energy, told a conference call with analysts in December.
WPL won’t say how much electricity GM and Domtar had been using but said that together, the price they paid for power amounted to 1 percent of the utility’s revenues.
Harvey projected WPL’s sales this year will be 6.4 percent, or $30 million, lower than those anticipated in the recent rate settlement, which was based on 2007 figures. “Because of this significant downward shift in forecasts, we will likely file an emergency rate case,” he told analysts. . . .
Madison Gas & Electric and Milwaukee-based We Energies said they have no plans to seek a rate boost based on recession-impaired revenues. But both of those utilities have discussed the possibility of seeking increases to help meet pension costs.
by jboullion | Jan 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2009
More information
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
Manitowoc County Says “No Can Do” to Windpower Project
The Manitowoc County Board of Adjustment rejected earlier this week a developer’s request for approval to build a seven-turbine wind project west of Two Rivers. The decision marks the latest setback in the project developer’s four-year-long quest to erect a community-scale wind project in the Town of Mishicot.
By contrast, the project developer, Emerging Energies LLP, recently secured a permit to erect eight turbines in the Town of Glenmore in Brown County, about 15 miles from Mishicot.
Under development since 2004, the Mishicot Wind Farm is strongly supported by Wisconsin-based environmental and clean energy groups, including RENEW Wisconsin.
“The Board’s rejection of the Mishicot Wind Farm is certain to send a chill through every Wisconsin developer seeking to construct a community-scale wind project here,” said RENEW Wisconsin Executive Director Michael Vickerman,
Blessed with some of the state’s strongest winds, Manitowoc County adopted a wind ordinance in 2004. Emerging Energies first proposed the Mishicot project in 2005. Progress since that time has been slowed by a countywide moratorium on wind development and the subsequent adoption of one of the most restrictive wind ordinances in Wisconsin.
Among these features is a minimum setback requirement of 1,000 feet from a turbine to a property line. In contrast, Emerging Energies’ permit in the Town of Glenmore specifies a setback of 1.1 times the total turbine height from property lines and public rights-of-way. The total height of a commercial wind turbine–tower plus vertically extended blade–ranges between 350 and 450 feet.
“Suffice it to say that if every jurisdiction adopted Manitowoc County’s setback standards, there would not be a single commercial wind project operating in Wisconsin right now,” Vickerman said.
As part of its application, Emerging Energies offered to provide an annual payment of $77,000 to be allocated equally among the county, the town, and neighboring residences living up to ½ mile away from a turbine. Over a 30-year operating life, the developer’s offer would pump $2.31 million directly into the local economy.
“The irony here is that Manitowoc County has prospered more from wind energy’s rapid expansion in recent years than any other county in Wisconsin,” Vickerman said. “The project site is 15 miles away from a turbine tower fabricating plant (Tower Tech) and a company that manufactures specialty cranes for wind farm construction (Manitowoc Crane Group).
“As a result of the global recession, wind component manufacturers are seeing a slowdown in orders. It is not unreasonable to believe that both Manitowoc companies could use the work,” Vickerman added.
Under Wisconsin’s renewable energy law, 10% of Wisconsin’s electricity must be generated by qualifying energy sources by 2015. RENEW estimates that windpower will contribute more than 75% of that electricity. In the past 12 months alone, 251 utility-scale turbines were installed across Wisconsin totaling 396 megawatts, expanding wind generating capacity by a factor of eight.
Yet a half-dozen projects totaling 600 megawatts of planned wind capacity in Wisconsin, from Grant County in the southwest to Kewaunee County in the northeast, have run into roadblocks, mostly from restrictive ordinances designed to thwart development.
“What happened in Manitowoc County is not an isolated phenomenon,” Vickerman said. “However, the county’s decision to reject the Mishicot project is at odds with state energy policy, which not only favors renewable energy development but also prohibits local jurisdictions from saying no to wind projects except to protect public health and safety.
“If we are serious about preventing local governments from arbitrarily exercising veto power over responsibly designed wind projects, then we have to change the law. Nothing else has worked so far.” Vickerman added.
–END–
RENEW Wisconsin is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives. More information on RENEW’s Web site at www.renewwisconsin.org.
by jboullion | Jan 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a media release issued by CREWE:
(MADISON, Wis.) – Leading Wisconsin companies are joining forces to advocate for the meaningful global warming policy changes proposed by the Governor’s Global Warming Task Force (GWTF).
The business coalition named Clean, Responsible Energy for Wisconsin’s Economy (CREWE) looks forward to working with other members of the GWTF, the Doyle Administration and other companies and organizations to push for the adoption of policies that effectively and responsibly address global warming and capture the economic development and environmental opportunities in Wisconsin, said CREWE Board Chairman Dan Ebert.
“Wisconsin is poised for a transition to a sound economy powered by good, new, green jobs,” Ebert said. “CREWE was formed around the belief that a sustained and shared partnership of government, business and citizens is needed to build a clean energy and reliable future that will benefit all Wisconsin residents and businesses.”
Coalition members include Wisconsin Energy Corp., Madison Gas & Electric, Orion Energy Systems, American Transmission Co., Johnson Controls, MillerCoors, WPPI Energy, Potawatomi Tribe and C5-6 Technologies.
CREWE is dedicated to joining forces with other supporters to promote responsible policies that address climate change, create jobs, promote energy efficiency, reliability and independence, and mitigate the economic impacts of rising energy costs, Ebert added.
by jboullion | Jan 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
The brochure for the conference says:
A regional conference aimed at bringing local farmers, community leaders, businesses and institutions together to explore the increasing demand for local and organic food and the opportunity for Sustainable Community Development in Northern Wisconsin.
by jboullion | Jan 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
A media release issued by Natural Resources Consulting, Inc.:
NRC was awarded a grant to evaluate the potential impacts of wind energy development on migrating birds and bats in the Upper Mississippi River Valley. NRC will lead stakeholders from the wind energy industry, natural resource agencies, conservation groups, and research community in a series of workshops to consider migratory patterns and standardized methods to evaluate the potential impacts of wind energy facilities on migrating birds and bats.
The Upper Mississippi River Valley is recognized as a globally important bird migration corridor. Increasing interest in locating wind energy facilities along the Mississippi River corridor has created a need for objective and cost-effective methods to evaluate and mitigate potential impacts on migrating birds and bats. The workshops will bring together a diverse stakeholder group to identify research needs and objectives, build consensus on appropriate study design and methods, and expedite the process for the mutual benefit of resource agencies and wind developers.
“We are excited about this opportunity to discuss and reach a consensus on how to best evaluate migration behaviors in this part of Wisconsin” said Dave Siebert, Director of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Office of Energy.
Louise Clemency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), added, “The Service commends NRC’s proactive approach in addressing potential impacts to birds and bats from wind energy development within the Upper Mississippi River Valley.”
Funding for this project is made possible by a grant from the Focus on Energy “Environmental and Economic Research Program” (EERP), which supports the understanding of environmental and economic impacts of energy use.
Perhaps the results will be relevant to all wind projects in the Midwest.
