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 | Jan 2, 2012 | Uncategorized
For immediate release
More information
Michael Vickerman
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
608.255.4044
The economics of small-scale renewable energy in western Wisconsin will brighten in January when Xcel Energy’s new rates take effect for homeowners and businesses. In a recent rate case decision, the Public Service Commission (PSC) approved Xcel’s proposal to strengthen its support for renewable energy in its territory through higher payments for the energy produced by solar, wind, and biogas installations.
“Xcel’s energy initiative affirms the value of voluntary utility actions that provide needed incentives that support the continued growth of Wisconsin’s renewable energy economy,” said Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin’s Executive Director.
RENEW and other industry leaders will host an energy policy summit in January to formulate strategies for advancing in-state development of renewable energy through public policies and private initiatives. More information about the RENEW Energy Policy Summit can be found at http://www.renewwisconsin.org
In the same decision, the PSC strengthened Xcel’s net metering offering. Starting in January, the ceiling on qualifying systems rises from 20 kilowatts to 100 kilowatts in size, which will enable larger solar and wind systems to receive full retail value for energy sold to the utility up to the customer’s annual consumption.
“Net metering policy is a critically important facet of the renewable energy marketplace. At our January summit, we will tackle the thorny questions of how to strengthen this and other policies for assisting Wisconsin electricity customers who wish to capture the benefits of on-site renewable energy production.” Vickerman said.
— END –
by jboullion | Dec 23, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Johnson Controls Inc. has won a contract to reduce energy use and add solar energy at the nation’s largest military installation, Fort Bliss in Texas and New Mexico.
A contract awarded Friday is valued at $16 million and is projected to save the Army post $39 million in energy costs over the next 24 years, Johnson Controls said.
The contract was awarded two weeks after President Barack Obama signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to make $2 billion worth of energy efficiency upgrades over the next two years, using energy-saving performance contracts like those offered by Johnson Controls.
Some 5,500 solar panels will be installed at Fort Bliss, along with new utility monitoring and control systems to manage energy at 120 different buildings. Together, the solar panels and energy-efficiency measures aim to reduce electricity use during peak power demand periods.
Fort Bliss, which encompasses 1.2 million acres in west Texas and New Mexico, is the country’s largest military installation and is undergoing a $4 billion expansion, the military’s largest expansion at any military installation since World War II.
by jboullion | Dec 8, 2011 | Uncategorized
For immediate release
December 7, 2011
More information
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
Leslie Glustrom, research director of Colorado-based Clean Energy Action, and an unwavering critic of utility reliance on coal for electricity generation, will be the featured speaker at RENEW Wisconsin’s Energy Policy Summit.
The Summit will be held on Friday, January 13, 2012, at the University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Pyle Center located on the UW-Madison campus. Summit attendees will spend the day discussing and selecting renewable energy strategies that make sense in the current political environment in Wisconsin. More information on the Summit can be found on the RENEW Wisconsin website at http://www.renewwisconsin.org.
As research director, Glustrom authored in 2009 an extensively referenced report on U.S. coal supplies titled, “Coal—Cheap and Abundant—Or Is It? Why Americans Should Stop Assuming that the US has a 200-Year Supply of Coal,” available for free at http://www.cleanenergyaction.org.
Since 2009, Glustrom has traveled to numerous states helping them to understand the likely constraints on their coal supplies.
Glustrom’s on-going research illuminates a future in which coal prices will likely continue to escalate, driven by a combination of less accessible coal supplies, increasing demand from Asian countries, and rising diesel fuel costs for hauling coal to distant markets like Wisconsin.
Clean Energy Action is spearheading a campaign to shut down Colorado’s coal-fired power plants and replace them with locally generated renewable electricity.
“Leslie’s experiences with Clean Energy Action can help Wisconsin renewable energy advocates formulate effective strategies for 2012 and beyond,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide sustainable energy advocacy organization headquartered in Madison.
“Even though Colorado is a coal-producing state, it has adopted some of the most aggressive policies in the country for advancing renewable energy,” said Vickerman. “Colorado’s commitment to clean energy is driving its economy at a time when its coal output is diminishing. For example, Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines with four plants employing 1,700 people in Colorado, supplied 90 turbines this year to Wisconsin’s largest wind project, the Glacier Hills Wind Park in Columbia County.”
“Leslie will inspire us to reverse the retreat from renewables and retake the initiative going forward,” Vickerman said.
In Boulder, Glustrom was part of the team that led the successful 2010 and 2011 ballot initiatives allowing Boulder to move ahead with plans to municipalize and break away from the long term commitment to coal plants made by their incumbent utility, Xcel Energy.
— END —
by jboullion | Dec 8, 2011 | Uncategorized
For immediate release
December 7, 2011
More information
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
Leslie Glustrom, research director of Colorado-based Clean Energy Action, and an unwavering critic of utility reliance on coal for electricity generation, will be the featured speaker at RENEW Wisconsin’s Energy Policy Summit.
The Summit will be held on Friday, January 13, 2012, at the University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Pyle Center located on the UW-Madison campus. Summit attendees will spend the day discussing and selecting renewable energy strategies that make sense in the current political environment in Wisconsin. More information on the Summit can be found on the RENEW Wisconsin website at http://www.renewwisconsin.org.
As research director, Glustrom authored in 2009 an extensively referenced report on U.S. coal supplies titled, “Coal—Cheap and Abundant—Or Is It? Why Americans Should Stop Assuming that the US has a 200-Year Supply of Coal,” available for free at http://www.cleanenergyaction.org.
Since 2009, Glustrom has traveled to numerous states helping them to understand the likely constraints on their coal supplies.
Glustrom’s on-going research illuminates a future in which coal prices will likely continue to escalate, driven by a combination of less accessible coal supplies, increasing demand from Asian countries, and rising diesel fuel costs for hauling coal to distant markets like Wisconsin.
Clean Energy Action is spearheading a campaign to shut down Colorado’s coal-fired power plants and replace them with locally generated renewable electricity.
“Leslie’s experiences with Clean Energy Action can help Wisconsin renewable energy advocates formulate effective strategies for 2012 and beyond,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide sustainable energy advocacy organization headquartered in Madison.
“Even though Colorado is a coal-producing state, it has adopted some of the most aggressive policies in the country for advancing renewable energy,” said Vickerman. “Colorado’s commitment to clean energy is driving its economy at a time when its coal output is diminishing. For example, Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines with four plants employing 1,700 people in Colorado, supplied 90 turbines this year to Wisconsin’s largest wind project, the Glacier Hills Wind Park in Columbia County.”
“Leslie will inspire us to reverse the retreat from renewables and retake the initiative going forward,” Vickerman said.
In Boulder, Glustrom was part of the team that led the successful 2010 and 2011 ballot initiatives allowing Boulder to move ahead with plans to municipalize and break away from the long term commitment to coal plants made by their incumbent utility, Xcel Energy.
— END —
