by jboullion | Jan 25, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Sheboygan Press:
If Gov. Scott Walker is all about creating jobs for Wisconsin residents, he will back off his support for new rules on wind farms.
Last year, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, in response to inconsistent siting rules adopted by individual communities, held hearings, reviewed scientific information and heard from health experts in an effort to come up with uniform standards sitting rules.
The PSC said the wind turbines, which generate electricity — and are responsible for hundreds of new jobs in Wisconsin already — must be located 1,250 feet from any residence and about 450 feet from property boundaries.
The PSC siting rules take into account the concerns of homeowners and are based on about 150 reports on medical and safety issues.
But new rules, which Walker backs, would put the setback from a residence at 1,800 feet — a distance that wind farm developers contend would drive them out of business and shut the door to this emerging technology and clean-energy process.
Keith Reopelle, the policy director for Clean Wisconsin, an environmental advocacy group, said the rules Walker is backing will jeopardize nearly a dozen wind farm plans in the works.
by jboullion | Jan 24, 2011 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by The Illinois Wind Energy Association:
(CHICAGO) — Today the Illinois Wind Energy Association (IWEA) invited wind power developers working in Wisconsin to focus their efforts on Illinois, where Governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly have worked to streamline regulations for the wind energy business.
Wind developers have been apprehensive about investing in Wisconsin since Governor Scott Walker proposed legislation that would effectively ban wind development from the Badger State. With these new job-destroying regulations on the table, IWEA is happy to highlight the much more business-friendly climate just to the south.
Recently introduced in the Wisconsin legislature, the War on Wind Initiative would dramatically extend setback distances from wind turbines in the state. If adopted, the bill would mandate a minimum setback requirement of 1,800 feet from neighboring property lines, far exceeding the setback distance from occupied dwellings specified in a rule issued by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.
“Even the strictest county setbacks in Illinois are nowhere near as extreme as what Wisconsin would have if this bill passes,” said IWEA Executive Director Kevin Borgia. “Illinois has no statewide minimum setbacks.”
As Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, said to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel last week, “it is one of the most onerous regulations we have ever seen.”
“In light of Wisconsin’s War on Wind, IWEA invites developers to focus their resources on Illinois,” Borgia said. “Businesses with wind farm proposals in both states are likely to focus their efforts on locations with the most beneficial regulatory climate. If the legislation is adopted, that location will not be Wisconsin.”
by jboullion | Jan 21, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal on wind turbine setback requirements would kill jobs and hurt the state’s renewable energy portfolio. The Legislature should reject it.
If Gov. Scott Walker is serious about creating jobs in Wisconsin – and we believe he is – he should not turn his back on job-creation opportunities that are available in green industries. Yet he seems to be doing exactly that, a primary example of which is proposed regulation that could effectively kill wind energy production in Wisconsin.
Walker’s proposal would require an 1,800-foot setback for wind turbines from nearby properties. Wind farm developers and supporters say that such a requirement would kill or severely curtail 10 of the 12 wind projects underway or proposed. That means a loss in jobs; it also means a significant reduction in the amount of renewable energy that would be available to the state in coming years.
Given the reality of climate change and likely new regulations that will be needed to mitigate the human factor in climate change, reducing renewable energy alternatives is a very bad idea.
Walker’s proposal also overturns the good work of an advisory committee and the state Public Service Commission that spent the past two years coming up with a less restrictive setback requirement of 1,250 feet for large turbines. As Keith Reopelle of Clean Wisconsin noted in an op-ed on Wednesday, the PSC held six rounds of public comments and received input from all the major stakeholders.
Some of those stakeholders may have been unhappy with the consensus that was reached, but the result was a reasonable compromise after an open process. To throw that all out and replace the PSC rule with the most restrictive statewide setback regulations in the country would be a mistake.
Walker seems to be reacting to a fear that wind turbines lower property values and limit development. But a 2009 study by the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found no evidence “that home prices surrounding wind facilities are consistently, measurably and significantly affected by either the view of wind facilities or the distance of the home to those facilities.”
by jboullion | Jan 20, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Milwaukee is revamping a program aimed at encouraging homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient and will unveil it this spring, Mayor Tom Barrett said.
The city sought a variety of funding alternatives to encourage homeowners to boost the efficiency of their buildings, letting city residents pay for the upgrades over time on their utility bill or their tax bill.
Rebuffed in those efforts, the city will instead apply stimulus funds to help create a revolving loan fund for the projects when it relaunches the ME2, or Milwaukee Energy Efficiency program, this spring, Barrett said during a White House roundtable Tuesday on “greening America’s cities.”
“But to me that still doesn’t get at the core issue,” Barrett said. “The challenge is how do you take that family, or single woman or man, who’s living in that house who’s got financial issues right now. They live in an older home, and how do you convince them that it’s in their best interest to make their home more energy efficient?”
The barriers to increasing investment in energy efficiency are many, despite the payback in lower energy costs, said Joel Rogers, head of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy and a leader in the national Emerald Cities Collaborative aimed at making government and institutional buildings more cost-effective in their energy use.
“The first major barrier is that most people don’t know much about what they can save,” Rogers said.
by jboullion | Jan 19, 2011 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in the Wisconsin State Journal:
More government regulation and tighter restrictions?
That’s the wrong path for Wisconsin to take on promising wind energy projects.
Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature should instead stick with the reasonable and uniform rules that the state Public Service Commission has approved.
Wisconsin is already falling behind its neighbors in the push to use wind as a clean, renewable energy source. At the same time, Wisconsin imports a huge portion of its power from out of state.
That’s why the PSC was smart to adopt standard rules for siting smaller wind operations as well as bigger wind farms. The PSC, after listening to public testimony, health experts and industry officials, wisely streamlined and replaced a hodgepodge of local restrictions.
The PSC standards now protect public health and safety while permitting well-designed wind farms on appropriate sites. Besides more home-grown energy, Wisconsin gains jobs related to the manufacturing of parts for turbines. Farmers also benefit from the additional income they receive for allowing turbines of varying size on their land.
Walker’s welcome mantra since his election last fall has been that Wisconsin is “open for business.” But Walker’s proposal for more regulation and restrictions on wind projects runs counter to that promise.
