by jboullion | Jul 18, 2011 | Uncategorized
Immediate release
July 18, 2011
More information
Michael Vickerman
Executive Director
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
National Study Vindicates Wisconsin’s Clean Energy Policies
Nearly a decade of forward-looking strategies propelled investments in Wisconsin’s clean jobs economy above other Midwest states, according to an economic study issued by The Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan public policy organization in Washington, D.C.
Reviewing data gathered between 2003 and 2010, the Brookings analysis pegged the number of clean economy jobs in the state at 76,858, a net increase of nearly 4,000. Measured as a percentage, Wisconsin’s clean economy accounted for 2.7% of all jobs in the state, compared with 2.5% for Iowa, 2.1% for Minnesota, 1.9 % for both Indiana and Michigan, and 1.8% for Illinois. Overall, Wisconsin ranked 8th among all states and the District of Columbia in the relative size of its clean economy.
The report categorizes clean economy jobs as those in energy efficiency and renewable energy; sustainable forestry products; recycling and reuse; waste management and treatment; organic food and farming; energy efficient appliance and building manufacturing; and more.
“Clearly, Wisconsin’s commitment to clean energy has paid dividends, attracting new businesses and creating high-paying jobs that could have easily gone elsewhere,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide organization advocating for public policies and private initiatives that advance renewable energy.
These policies and initiatives include the establishment of Focus on Energy, the region’s first ratepayer-funded energy efficiency and renewable energy program, attractive buyback rates offered by utilities for renewable energy, and innovative incentives to encourage customer installation of renewables.
In addition, Wisconsin’s adoption of a 10% renewable energy standard back in 2006 spurred new utility-scale installations built by skilled tradesmen employed by local contractors. During the study period, the number of wind-related jobs in Wisconsin doubled from less than 450 to 900.
As documented in the Brookings report, the wages for these clean economy jobs run higher than the statewide average ($37,931 vs. $35,906).
“Unfortunately, Wisconsin’s clean economy is in danger of losing a good deal of its steam as a result of policy rollbacks and funding cutbacks in the renewable energy arena,” Vickerman said. “The short-sighted attacks we’ve seen in 2011 could throw the state’s clean economy into reverse next year.”
So far this year, the Legislature has reduced funding for Focus on Energy, suspended the statewide rule regulating the permitting of wind turbines, and weakened the state’s renewable energy standard by allowing utilities to count Canadian hydropower toward their requirements.
“On top of that, We Energies, the state’s largest utility, announced that it will discontinue what had been an effective renewable energy initiative,” Vickerman said. “Among other accomplishments, it was instrumental in enabling Helios USA to build a solar-electric manufacturing facility in Milwaukee’s Menomonee River Valley.” The plant now employs 50 workers.
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 | Jul 14, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Kathleen Foody in Central Wisconsin Business:
ROTHSCHILD — The long public debate over a proposed biomass power plant in Rothschild came to an end Monday [June 20] when Domtar announced plans to move forward with the $255 million project.
The 50-megawatt power plant, a joint effort of Milwaukee utility We Energies and Domtar paper, is expected to burn 500,000 tons of the tops and limbs of trees left behind by traditional logging operations each year.
“(The final decision) puts … everything behind us,” Rothschild Village Board President George Peterson said. “We can move forward, We Energies and Domtar can move forward.”
We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey said crews will begin working this week at the site adjacent to the existing Domtar mill on Business Highway 51 in Rothschild.
Manthey said We Energies still hopes to have the plant completed by the end of 2013, the eligibility deadline for federal tax credits. The facility also is part of We Energies’ plan to comply with state regulations requiring at least 8 percent of utilities’ sales to come from renewable energy by 2015.
by jboullion | Jul 11, 2011 | Uncategorized
From a commentary by Michael Vickerman, Executive Director, RENEW Wisconsin:
Dramatic Slowdown in Market Activity Anticipated
What started out as an opening salvo from the Walker Administration to shackle large-scale wind projects has in six months turned into a systematic campaign to dismantle the state policies that support renewable energy development. Joining the executive and legislative branches in pursuing policy rollbacks and/or funding cutbacks against renewables are various utilities and, surprisingly, Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s ratepayer-funded energy efficiency and renewable programs.
Since January 1st, Wisconsin has seen a series of assaults against utility-scale projects and smaller renewable systems serving both residences and businesses. These include the following actions:
- The Legislature suspended PSC 128, the statewide rule developed by the Public Service Commission last year in response to a law passed by the Legislature in 2009 ordering the agency to establish uniform standards for permitting wind energy systems. Since the March 1 suspension vote, wind development in Wisconsin has slowed to a standstill.
- The Legislature adopted SB 81, a bill that RENEW Wisconsin describes as the “Outsource Renewable Energy to Canada Act.” SB 81 allows Wisconsin utilities to meet their renewable energy requirements beginning in 2015 with electricity generated from large hydropower plants in other states and Canada. By allowing Wisconsin utilities to become even more dependent on energy imports than they are today, SB 81 turns Wisconsin’s Renewable Energy Standard on its head. Importing large-scale hydropower exports the very dollars that could have been used to harness Wisconsin’s renewable energy resources.
- We Energies, the state’s largest electric utility, abruptly decided in May to walk away from an agreement with RENEW to dedicate $60 million over a 10-year period in support of renewable energy development in its territory. The decision came in the sixth year of this program. We Energies plans to reallocate the unspent dollars (totaling about $27 million) to general operations.
- Green Bay-based Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) instituted in April a new net energy policy designed to discourage new customer-sited renewable energy systems. Until recently WPS had been paying its customers the full retail rate for electricity that flows back on the wires, which is now about 12 cents/kWh. But under the new rate, WPS only pays three cents/kWh for electricity exported to the grid. Moreover, the utility calculates the net each month, which penalizes customers whose loads vary significantly depending on seasonal factors. Right now, the new policy only covers systems installed after March 2011, but WPS has said that it plans to apply that rate to older systems effective January 2013.
- In its deliberations on the biennial state budget passed in June, the Legislature appended a rider to tie Focus on Energy’s annual budget to a percentage (1.2% of gross utility revenues). This action will mean a cut of $20 million in the program’s 2012 budget relative to this year’s allocation of $120 million. The Focus on Energy program provides grants and cash-back awards supporting customer investments in solar electric, solar thermal systems, small wind, biogas and biomass energy systems.
- Last, but certainly not least, as of July 1, Focus on Energy stopped accepting applications for business program incentives to help customers install renewable energy systems. These incentives, which average about $7 million per year, had been available since 2002 to businesses, farms, schools, local governments and other nonprofit customers. It is not clear when these incentives will be resumed and in what quantity.
by jboullion | Jul 6, 2011 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Kolbe Windows and Doors:
Wausau, Wis. (July 2011) – Located in Wausau, Wis., Red Eye Brewing Company produces and sells craft beers complimented by dishes made from home-grown ingredients. The owners’ preference for locally-sourced, environmentally-responsible materials, their attention to detail and their appreciation for quality, contributed to their selection of Kolbe’s windows and doors.
“Red Eye truly believes that our success as a business is measured through our commitment to the community and the environment, paired with sound economic practices,” says co-owner Brett Danke. . . .
Bringing this systematic, sustainable, whole building design to life, S.D. Ellenbecker served as a hands-on general contractor, including the installation of Kolbe’s windows and doors. Opened in 2008, the 6,000-square-foot space’s other green building features include:
- location is a quick walk for downtown shoppers, near a designated bike route and one block from the bus terminal;
- reclaimed Redwood fence, planed by hand, and re-used as wood trim;
- waterless urinals, which save a combined 90,000 gallons of water per year;
- spent grain from the brewing process is provided to a local farmer, which he uses as a supplement for his cattle, eliminating it from the landfill;
- wood burning oven is fired with locally-sourced hardwoods, a renewable source of energy, which avoids the consumption of natural gas and electricity for primary cooking needs;
- solar water heat, which further reduces the consumption of natural gas and electrical power, equating to nearly 35 years of “free hot water” for use in the brewery and its restaurant.
by jboullion | Jun 29, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by in the Karina Gonzalez:
MERRILL — A local dairy farmer might soon take advantage of a windy hill on his property to generate renewable energy.
Hans Breitenmoser Jr. has a meteorological tower on his southwest Merrill property that measures wind capacity. In late July 2010, Madison’s Seventh Generation Energy Systems installed the tower to begin a one-year study that would look into the feasibility of using the windy hill to power the farm.
“I’ve lived here all of my life and it’s always been windy,” Breitenmoser Jr. said. “And I’ve always had an interest in green energy.”
Breitenmoser said he expects the study will help him determine what kind of wind energy equipment is the most suitable to offset traditional energy costs at his farm.
Ry Thompson, systems division manager for Seventh Generation, said the Northwoods is generally not a great area for wind turbines because of the vast number of trees that block and slow breezes. However, because Breitenmoser’s property is elevated, it appears to be a good site for generating power.
Seventh Generation will have a report ready by late summer that will include a cost analysis and wind estimates, Thompson said.
