by jboullion | Mar 20, 2012 | Uncategorized
Spring is here, but the Focus on Energy Renewable Energy Incentives are not!
Wisconsin used to give incentives, as directed by state law, to people, organizations, and businesses that installed renewable energy systems – solar, wind, biodigesters, and more – through Focus on Energy, which the Public Service Commission oversees.
Not any more!
Last June 2011, Focus on Energy announced a “limited suspension” of incentive payments to businesses that want to install a renewable system.
Since the first of this year, Focus on Energy stopped giving renewable incentives to homeowners as well!
Incentives would again be offered in the spring, said Shaw Environmental, the state-contracted administrator. Not! Spring begins today, and Focus on Energy still needs to restart the incentives program.
Tell the Public Service Commission to RESTART the incentives:
Here’s a sample message to deliver in your email or on the phone:
The Focus on Energy program used to have a successful renewable energy incentive program, but now the program has been completely dropped. Homeowners and businesses that want to improve the environment, support local jobs, and promote energy independence need the incentives and services to make installations affordable and easy to implement.
RENEW Wisconsin is an independent, nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization that advocates for businesses, organizations, and individuals who want more clean renewable energy in Wisconsin. More information on RENEW’s vision and 2012 action plan, and ways to become a member can be found on RENEW’s Web site at www.renewwisconsin.com. Join or donate today! Click here.
by jboullion | Jan 19, 2012 | Uncategorized
From a report by Alex Brasch on RENEW’s Energy Policy Summit:
MADISON, Wis. – Can local governments work together with citizen action groups to effectively transition America away from reliance on fossil fuels? The answer in Wisconsin and Colorado seems to be yes.
Members of Wisconsin’s renewable energy industry convened in Madison for the RENEW Wisconsin Energy Policy Summit last week. The diverse crowd of renewable energy manufacturers, installers, state utilities, environmental advocacy groups, university representatives, and government officials, including Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, came together to focus their efforts on retaking the initiative in the fight for a more sustainable energy future for Wisconsin.
Members heard from keynote speaker Leslie Glustrom, a biochemist who belongs to a similar organization in Boulder, Colo. – a group that recently led a successful ballot initiative to authorize creation of a municipal utility in that city.
Don Wichert, founder of RENEW and former chief of energy resources with the Wisconsin Department of Administration and current director of renewable energy services at the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation created the advocacy group more than 20 years ago to address government officials about clean energy development in the state.
Wichert said Wisconsin spends nearly $6 billion per year on imported coal, petroleum, and natural gas. “As a renewable energy advocacy group composed of concerned citizens, clean energy businesses, environmental organizations, and government employees, RENEW Wisconsin seeks to change the way people think about and consume energy through a combination of advocacy, education, and creative partnerships with state and local governments, businesses, utilities, and citizen groups,” Wichert said.
Michael Vickerman, long-time executive director of RENEW, expressed optimism that, “despite current rollbacks of renewable energy policies, including the suspension of clean energy incentives and a weakening of state laws that leverage utility-purchased renewable energy, there is still a network of supportive local officials throughout the state.” He challenged advocates to resist acquiescing to the current political situation, and instead, use the sum influence of the clean energy industry, including non-profits and concerned citizens, to drum up support for clean energy development. Vickerman provided three guiding principles as a springboard to start discussion on how to retake the initiative.
First, reframe the message by presenting the industry’s true potential as a group of highly-motivated, dynamic organizations with a unifying business plan that will generate green jobs. Second, assert the fact that renewable energy is something intensely desired by businesses and citizens, because it gives customers more options, businesses increased market appeal, and a surefire pathway to more local jobs. And finally, pursue community-owned renewable projects that will keep energy production local and redirect investment into the area economy.
by jboullion | Jan 5, 2012 | Uncategorized
Leslie Glustrom is the featured speaker at RENEW’s Energy Policy Summit, January 13, Madison. Read the report that she mentions about 11 minutes into the interview.
Register and get details about the Summit at the Summit Web page.
by jboullion | Jan 4, 2012 | Uncategorized
It’s 2012 and the world of energy is shifting fast. Will you be part of the conversation around the shape that will take in Wisconsin?
If you or your business plan to BUILD, BUY, or BE part of Wisconsin’s renewable energy future, register NOW for RENEW’s Energy Policy SUMMIT on Friday JANUARY 13th in Madison.
There are a LIMITED number of SPACES available for the RENEW Energy Policy Summit. REGISTER TODAY to make sure you have a seat in the room. Click here to register for the Summit.
Want to know who else will be at the Summit table? You can see which people and what companies are registered to participate in the RENEW Energy Policy Summit at the event home page Click here to see who’s coming.
Set your clocks for 2012 and get to the table with RENEW Wisconsin.
RENEW Energy Policy Summit
Date: 1/13/2012 8:30 AM CST – 5:30 PM CST
Location: Pyle Center, UW-Madison Campus
702 Langdon Street
Madison, WI 53703
For more informations and questions email Ed Blume.
by jboullion | Dec 21, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Jake Miller in the Wausau Daily Herald:
ROTHSCHILD — A $255 million biomass power plant under construction in Rothschild already has put more than 75 people to work full time, providing them with family-sustaining wages, officials said.
The workers — mostly general laborers, iron workers and carpenters — have spent recent months pouring concrete and erecting the 11-story steel frame for a building that ultimately will house the plant’s boiler, said Randy DeMeuse, vice president of operations for The Boldt Co., the Appleton-based firm overseeing construction.
The plant, a We Energies and Domtar Corp. project, remains on schedule after crews began to build the facility this summer, We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey said. The plant at Domtar’s Rothschild paper mill will generate steam for the papermaker and electricity for We Energies and is expected to be complete by late summer of 2013.
The state Public Service Commission approved the project this past summer after neighbors of the site waged a fierce battle to block its construction. Opponents cited pollution and visual concerns, while supporters argued the much-needed jobs outweighed those issues.
The number of people working on-site during construction is expected to climb to 250 by summer. If the project hits any delays, that number could grow to 400 because project managers would need to add a second shift of workers, DeMeuse said.
The number of people working on-site during construction is expected to climb to 250 by summer. If the project hits any delays, that number could grow to 400 because project managers would need to add a second shift of workers, DeMeuse said.
“That’s just staff on site; it doesn’t include truck drivers at all,” he said. “Chances are we may peak out higher than (250).”
