by jboullion | Feb 18, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Sean Ryan in The Daily Reporter:
People in Rothschild have a lot of questions about how We Energies’ proposed $250 million biomass plant project will affect their neighborhood.
The community has not heard much about the project since representatives from the state and We Energies visited Rothschild in September to announce plans to build a 50-megawatt biomass plant next to Domtar Corp.’s paper mill, said Village President Neil Torney, who said the plant’s burner would be built 1,400 feet from his house.
“There’s a few concerned citizens who live near the plant who would, naturally, have a bunch of questions,” he said. Torney said his list of questions is seven pages.
We Energies is sending people to knock on doors within a mile of the project to share information and gather comments, said spokesman Brian Manthey. On Saturday, the utility will hold its first project open house in Rothschild, he said.
We Energies planners, Manthey said, want to hear concerns before applying for Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approval in March or April so the designs can be changed to alleviate problems.
The project will supply jobs to the community and other economic benefits, Manthey said.
“Those are all good things, and those are real good community benefits,” he said. “And we want to make sure that we are out there as well to address any issues.”
Artist’s sketch courtesy of We Energies
by jboullion | Feb 17, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a letter to State Rep. Spencer Black and State Sen. Mark Miller:
RENEW is pleased to provide the enclosed copy of the narrative and appendix of tables from an economic analysis that we commissioned.
The analysis concludes that special buyback rates (sometimes called Advanced Renewable Tariffs) designed to stimulate small-scale renewable energy installations would have negligible impact on residential utility bills, averaging about $10 a year. That’s less a dollar a month for the typical customer. And it’s less than a household’s cost of purchasing the smallest block of green power from Madison Gas and Electric, for instance.
Compared with other forms of economic stimulus, promoting small-scale renewables through utility buyback rates would deliver a substantial and long-lasting economic punch with minimal impact on the Wisconsin citizen’s pocketbook.
Prepared by Spring Green-based L&S Technical Associates, the study modeled rate impacts from the legislation’s provisions for ARTs on the state’s five largest utilities. The modeling predicts cost impacts ranging from a low of $8.12 a year for a residential customer of Wisconsin Public Service to as high as $11.07 for a Wisconsin Power and Light (Alliant) customer. The projected impact would amount to $8.81 a year for a We Energies customer, $9.71 for a Madison Gas and Electric customer, and $10.11 for an Xcel Energy customer.
The projections assume that when each utility reaches its maximum threshold of 1.5 percent of total retail sales. In the aggregate, this percentage equates to 1/70th of total annual sales. That’s one billion kilowatt-hours a year, out of total annual sales of 70 billion kilowatt-hour.
Though the principals of L&S Technical Associates serve on RENEW’s board of directors, they have prepared numerous renewable energy studies for other clients, including the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Center of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. L&S has also co-authored renewable energy potential studies in response to requests from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.
The bill’s renewable energy buyback provisions would unleash a steady flow of investment that would lead to new economic activity and jobs while moving us toward energy independence – exactly what we all hope to accomplish by passage of the Clean Energy Jobs Act legislation.
by jboullion | Feb 16, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the UW-Madison:
Wide-ranging efforts to nurture a Wisconsin biomass market supplying fuel to the soon-to-be-renovated Charter Street Heating Plant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are under way, as officials begin identifying potential suppliers for the cutting-edge facility.
State and UW-Madison officials are asking interested Wisconsin farmers, businesses and landowners to respond to a simple “request for information” that will help pinpoint likely suppliers of the 250,000 tons of biomass that the plant will consume each year.
“We want to build reliable partnerships, help foster an emerging industry and meet the environmental goals of powering a cleaner, coal-free facility,” says Troy Runge, director of the Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative, a UW-Madison-based coalition that helps Wisconsin create, commercialize and promote bioenergy solutions.
Runge, who chairs a multiagency panel charged with creating a biomass market to serve the plant, says the request was designed to be simple to encourage broad participation. It will be followed in coming months by a request for more detailed information and proposals from potential biomass fuel suppliers and aggregators.
“We want to cast the broadest possible net to eventually develop a network of suppliers who are capable of providing long-term, sustainable and environmentally responsible fuel supplies,” says Runge.
The request seeks information on the type of fuel being offered, location, pricing, capacity, storage and transportation. It can be found at http://www.wbi.wisc.edu/charter-street-biomass-heating-plant.
by jboullion | Feb 15, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by 1000 Friends
of Wisconsin:
Local property taxes would go down according to testimony given on Wednesday [February 10] by 100 Friends of Wisconsin.
“The demand-side provisions of the the transporation policies included in the Clean Energy Jobs legislation would drive down the costs of building and maintaining the transportation infrastructure,” according to
Steve Hiniker, Executive Director of 100 Friends of Wisconsin.
Hiniker provided testimony at Wedneday’s Senate Select Committee on Clean Energy hearing on the Clean Energy Jobs Act. The hearing focused on transportation and agricultural policies contained in the bill. 1000 Friends testimony focused on demand-side transportation policies that reduce the demand for driving a single occupant vehicle.
“The bill calls for simple strategies to significantly reduce teh costs of transportation facilities as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. By focusing on infill development, enhancing transit options and eliminating subsidies for parking, communities canc tgive a hboost to the environment, make their communities better places to live and reduce taxes,” Hiniker noted.
The following strategies were highlighted at the hearing:
• Development of a market-based pricing model for parking . . .
• Planning grants for compact development . . .
• Metropolitan Planning Organization reform . . .
by jboullion | Feb 11, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Kevin Murphy in the Marshfield News Herald:
MADISON — WE Energies will host a Feb. 20 open house to update residents about its planned $250 million biomass power plant at the Domtar paper mill in Rothschild.
Since announcing the plant in September, WE Energies has been going “door-to-door” and meeting with community leaders to gather local questions and concerns about the plant that would burn mill residue and trucked-in waste wood. The facility would produce enough power supply 40,000 homes, said WE Energies spokesman Brian Manthey.
“We’re still finding the answers to questions about emissions, construction schedules and early phases of operations but we can let people know what we know,” said Manthey of the open house, planned for noon to 4 p.m. at the Rothschild Holiday Inn & Suites.
