by jboullion | Jan 19, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a post on the Web site of Bubbling Spirngs Solar:
Café 27 in Steven’s Point has just finished the installation of a six-panel array of Bubbling Springs Solar’s collectors, performed by Bob’s Plumbing. Using solar thermal technology in the foodservice industry is highly economical; the sun heats or preheats the water for dishwashing and cooking, cutting down on conventional energy bills. Café 27 is setting an excellent example and we hope to see more solar thermal in the foodservice industry. Check out Café 27 at 945 Clark St. in Stevens Point, WI or call 715-544-4730.
by jboullion | Jan 14, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Focus on Energy:
(January 13, 2009)—Focus on Energy, in partnership with Wisconsin
Public Service, is offering free energy assessments to eligible small industrial businesses in the WPS service territory. Assessments will be conducted Jan. 25 – Jan. 29, 2010, with an orientation meeting held Monday, January 25, 2010 at the Marriot Courtyard hotel in Wausau. Attendees will learn how to save energy and money through energy efficiency, and explore the many services and incentives available through Focus and WPS.
During the free energy assessments, an energy professional will visit participants’ facilities and evaluate energy-saving opportunities at the site. Following the assessment, Focus on Energy will provide a report of the findings, along with practical recommendations for saving energy and money, as well as information on financial incentives to help implement projects.
Participation and eligibility is limited. Interested parties are encouraged to RSVP today by calling Focus on Energy at (800) 762-7077, visiting focusonenergy.com/wps, or emailing industrialaudit@focusonenergy.com.
by jboullion | Jan 13, 2010 | Uncategorized
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 2010
MORE INFORMATION
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
RENEW Wisconsin hailed today the Public Service Commission’s approval of what will become the state’s largest wind farm to be built in Columbia County.
Known as Glacier Hills, the proposed 90-turbine project will produce approximately 400 million kilowatt hours of clean renewable electricity annually, while directing $648,000 a year in local aid payments to Columbia County and the townships of Randolph and Scott.
“This project is certain to deliver a shot in the arm to wind-energy equipment suppliers, skilled laborers, and construction contractors throughout the state, not to mention area landowners and local governments,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide membership organization that advocates for renewable energy.
If We Energies’ experience with its previous wind project is any guide, this project will account for more than 400,000 labor hours during construction, according to Vickerman.
The state’s 10% renewable energy standard is the main policy driver behind this project, he said.
Vickerman said: “To be certain that Glacier Hills will not be the last large wind project constructed in Wisconsin, the Legislature must raise the current renewable-energy standard on utilities. The provisions in the recently introduced Clean Energy Jobs Act, which we strongly support, would lift that requirement to 25% by 2025.”
“The state can lock in additional jobs and revenue streams to localities by passing the Clean Energy Jobs Act this winter,” Vickerman said.
by jboullion | Jan 12, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a post by Steve Jagler on Milwaukee Biz Blog:
The controversy over Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposed Clean Energy Jobs Act illustrates a deep philosophical divide that is emerging within Wisconsin’s business community.
In some ways, the emerging chasm pits the politics of tomorrow against the politics of yesterday.
On one side of the divide – in favor of the green jobs plan – stand the coalition for Clean, Responsible Energy for Wisconsin’s Economy (CREWE) and the Wisconsin Business Council.
The CREWE includes venerable companies such as CleanPower, Alliant Energy, EcoEnergy, Johnson Controls Inc., Xcel Energy, C5•6 Technologies, Axley Brynelson, Madison Gas and Electric, Orion Energy Systems, Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin Energy Corp., Poblocki Sign Company, Emerging Energies of Wisconsin, MillerCoors, American Transmission Co., WPPI Energy, DTE Energy Services and Kranz, Inc. . . .
The plan also has the support of the Wisconsin Business Council, which includes leaders from several of the state’s key businesses, including American Transmission Co., Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, AT&T Wisconsin, Commerce State Bank, Dean Health System, Midwest Natural Gas, MillerCoors, Mortenson Construction, Orion Energy Systems and Park Bank (in Madison). . . .
On the other side of the divide stands the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), which is joined by 22 other business organizations, including the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC), in opposition to Doyle’s proposal.
The WMC cited a study by the conservative Wisconsin Policy Research Institute that contends the proposed green legislation would kill 43,093 private-sector jobs in Wisconsin. . . .
Adding even more intrigue to this philosophical divide among Wisconsin’s business community is the fact that many members of the CREWE and the Wisconsin Business Council in favor of the green jobs plan also are dues-paying members of the WMC, the MMAC and the other organizations that are against the plan.
“It’s really created massive fault lines within the business community between the deniers (of global warming) and those that think something must be done,” said Thad Nation of the CREWE. “It’s probably going to get messier before it gets better.”
by jboullion | Jan 11, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article on BizTimes Daily:
President Barack Obama today announced that his administration is awarding $2.3 billion in tax credits to the private sector for clean energy manufacturing projects across the country, including seven companies in Wisconsin that will receive $21 million in tax breaks.
A total of 183 projects across the nation will receive the tax breaks, which are part of the federal economic stimulus package passed last year.
The White House said the projects will create 17,000 jobs and will boost U.S. manufacturing of advanced clean energy technologies including solar, wind and efficiency and energy management technologies.
The Wisconsin recipients of the tax credits are:
Waukesha Electric Systems Inc. is receiving a $12.45 million tax credit to expand its plant in Waukesha to product large, high-voltage power transformers. The company anticipates that more than 80 percent of them will be used to help bring renewable energy to distant load centers or to replace aging, less efficient transformers. . . .
Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Kaydon Corp. is receiving a $1,774,800 tax credit to re-equip and expand its manufacturing facility in Milwaukee to produce pitch and yaw bearings used in the production and assembly of wind energy turbines.
Milwaukee-based Ingeteam Inc. is receiving a $1,665,299 tax credit to manufacture wind turbine generators in various technologies. The company will also manufacture power converter and control systems for the wind and solar industries.
Wausaukee Composites Inc. is receiving a $930,810 tax credit to manufacture fiberglass wind turbine components.
Kaukauna-based Bassett Inc. is receiving an $868,500 tax credit to manufacture wind turbine towers and foundation components for all sizes of turbines and a $75,000 tax credit to manufacture carbon capture and sequestration systems to extract and trap carbon from waste systems from coal fired power plants.
Waukesha-based Cooper Power Systems LLC is receiving an $846,180 tax credit for its new facility that will be producing high efficiency transformers.
