by jboullion | Oct 19, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Racine Journal Times:
The wind turbines have stopped turning in Wisconsin, figuratively speaking. For months, the rewrite of rules governing the siting of wind energy farms has been stalled. New investments and new jobs also have been stalled because of that, and there is no good reason for it.
When Gov. Scott Walker took office in January he worked to short-circuit the rule-making process which was then almost complete after two years. The Public Service Commission had reached a compromise with interest groups which would have placed the wind turbine towers about 450 feet away from the nearest property line but no less than 1,250 feet from the nearest residence. Walker wanted the property line setback increased to 1,800 feet.
Ultimately, a legislative committee didn’t act on a bill containing Walker’s proposed standard and instead ordered the PSC to start over. That’s where the process remains. A member of the agency told the Wisconsin State Journal that talks have made no progress and are stuck over the same old issues: noise, setback distance and effect on the value of neighboring properties.
If there is no progress by March the PSC’s original regulations will take effect anyway, but wind farm opponents have no incentive to negotiate. All they have to do is wait. Either wind energy proponents capitulate and give them what they want, or the Legislature writes a new law which gives them what they want or Walker, with his new power to review regulations first, will give them what they want.
There is a high price for this stalling. Since the rules were becalmed, five major wind energy projects have been suspended or canceled. Those would have infused about $1.6 billion in economic development and created about 1,000 temporary full-time jobs. By contrast, the proposed northern Wisconsin iron mine which the Legislature is looking to accommodate is supposed to bring a $1.5 billion investment and 700 jobs.
by jboullion | Oct 14, 2011 | Uncategorized
More information
Michael Vickerman
Executive Director
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
From the North Woods to the Illinois border, from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River, growing numbers of Wisconsin factories, businesses, schools, hospitals, fire stations, apartment buildings and breweries have installed systems that heat their water with the power of the sun.
A newly launched online map on RENEW Wisconsin’s web site displays the locations of more than 60 nonresidential solar hot water systems installed in the state. Each flagged system is accompanied by a box containing information on the owner, installation contractor, system size and date of installation. Many of these systems are linked to their installers’ web sites, accompanied by photos.
The solar hot water map joins the family of on-line renewable energy maps developed by RENEW Wisconsin in the past year. Some maps are resource-specific; others break out renewable energy systems by county.
“These maps verify the enormously positive effect that Wisconsin’s clean energy initiatives like Focus on Energy have had in creating such a vibrant economic sector,” said RENEW executive director Michael Vickerman.
Created in 1999 and strengthened in 2006, Focus on Energy is a ratepayer-funded initiative that helps Wisconsin residents and businesses employ energy efficiency measures and install renewable energy systems.
“In the past five years, Focus on Energy incentives have been instrumental in putting solar hot water on the map in Wisconsin,” Vickerman said. “No other Midwestern state has come close to experiencing Wisconsin’s success in advancing this particular application of solar energy.”
The table below shows the five largest solar hot water installations operating in Wisconsin, two are located at University of Wisconsin campuses.
Owner: UW-Oshkosh
Installer: H&H Solar, Green Sky Energetics
County: Winnebago
Capacity: 6,800 square feet (total)
Year installed: 2010, 2011
Kalahari Resorts
Terrytown Plumbing/H&H Solar
Sauk
4,160
2007
Menomonie Indian Tribe
Energy Concepts
Menomonie
2,600
2010
UW-Stevens Point
Hooper Corp./ Pertzborn Plumbing
Portage
2,240 (total)
2011
Avis Rent-a-Car (multiple locations)
Mitchell’s Heating & Cooling
Outagamie
2,160 (total)
2007
Milwaukee-based Hot Water Products, one of the largest stocking distributors for solar thermal and domestic hot water systems in the Midwest, supplied and designed four of these systems and many others in Wisconsin over the last five years. In addition to training contractors in this field, Hot Water Products also assists them with system design and equipment sizing support.
This year, installation activity has been brisk, but most installation contractors are bracing for a sharp slowdown in 2012, due to a Focus on Energy decision on July 1st to suspend renewable energy grants and incentives to nonresidential customers. The announcement of the funding suspension came after the Legislature voted in June to lop $20 million from Focus on Energy’s 2012 budget.
“The longer Focus on Energy’s funding suspension goes on, the deeper the damage will be. Installers are holding their breath as they wait for Focus on Energy to restore renewable energy funding assistance.”
Installers and system owners wishing to add their installations to the map should contact Alex Brasch at brasch@renewwisconsin.org.
by jboullion | Oct 6, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Sean Ryan in the Business Journal:
City of Milwaukee streetcar supporters, including Mayor Tom Barrett, on Wednesday rallied against the proposal to give Milwaukee County buses up to $54.9 million in federal grants dedicated to the streetcar.
Milwaukee Alds. Joe Dudzik and Bob Donovan and County Board Supervisor Mark Borkowski on Wednesday called for an April referendum on the project and requested U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore sponsor federal legislation to give county buses the federal money that was earmarked for the streetcar. Donovan listed his concerns about the project, including the potentially high cost of moving utilities for the streetcar tracks, operating costs and potential ridership.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Donovan, Dudzik and Borkowski have a history of being hostile toward transit and said many of their arguments have been made before. He said the three did not participate in a push made earlier this year to urge the state to restore money for the county transit system that was cut in the state budget.
“Where were these three individuals?” Barrett said. “They were nowhere, because they’ve never had an interest in improving transit in this community.”
The federal grant for the 2.1-mile downtown streetcar is the city’s share of $91.5 million in transit money Congress approved in 1991 for projects in Milwaukee County. A Congressional budget bill approved in 2009 earmarked $54.9 million for the city and $36.6 million for the county. As approved by Congress, the money can only be spent on capital projects, not on system operations.
by jboullion | Oct 3, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article on BizTimesDaily:
If proposed cuts are made to the Milwaukee County Transit System, a minimum of 13,553 jobs in locations currently served by MCTS would become inaccessible for people without cars, according to a new report by the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Center for Economic Development.
“Included in the proposed budget for 2012 are a series of route eliminations and other service reductions that, if implemented, would reduce both fixed route services and hours of operation by roughly 12 percent. It has become a familiar story for MCTS, which has been forced to reduce service, raise fares, or both every year since 2001 to close chronic budget gaps. These cuts have made it increasingly difficult for transit-dependent workers and job seekers to access employment opportunities in the Milwaukee metro area, contributing to Milwaukee’s poverty rate of 27 percent, fourth highest in the nation among cities with 250,000 or more residents,” the report stated.
The county’s transit crisis is made worse by Gov. Scott Walker’s budget, which imposes a 10-percent across-the-board cut in the state’s operating assistance for public transit systems, the report stated.
“Due to a provision in the budget that limits increases in the property tax levy for counties and municipalities, there is little the County can do to offset the loss of state funding with additional local revenue sources,” the report stated.
by jboullion | Sep 29, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Delavan – Welcome to the field where sun power and the sunflower meet.
Well, not just one sunflower. More like thousands. And not just one solar panel, either. Thousands there, too.
Convergence Energy of Lake Geneva is building one of the largest solar projects in the state, and the first that allows individual investors to buy a stake in the project.
The Convergence Energy Solar Farm began construction last year on 14 acres near Dan Osborn’s wholesale nursery.
The idea, said Steve Johnson, vice president of business development, is to provide a green-power investment opportunity for people who live in a condo or have too much shade to make solar power workable on their own home’s roof.
By the time it’s finished this year, it will be the second-largest solar project in Wisconsin, after Epic Systems’ corporate campus solar project in Verona.
But instead of being developed by one large company, this project is being built, piece by piece, as investors take a stake in the project.
“It’s a way for a small investor to have a part in it all,” said investor Dave Smith of Libertyville, Ill. “When you live in a town home like I do, there’s nothing you can really do.”
