by jboullion | May 14, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the Public Service Commission:
MADISON – The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) is seeking public comment on the proposed wind siting rules, issued today by the PSC. The proposed rules will ultimately result in uniform wind siting standards for local units of government in Wisconsin and ensure consistent local procedures for regulation of wind energy systems. . . .
2009 Wisconsin Act 40 (Act 40) requires the PSC to promulgate a variety of rules that specify the conditions a city, village, town, or county (political subdivision) may impose on the installation or use of a wind energy system. If a political subdivision chooses to regulate such systems, its ordinances may not be more restrictive than the PSC’s rules. The PSC will also consider the restrictions specified in these rules when determining whether to grant a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a wind energy system over 100 megawatts.
The PSC established docket 1-AC-231 to conduct the rulemaking under Act 40. Act 40 requires the PSC to conduct this rulemaking with the advice of the Wind Siting Council. The Wind Siting Council is an advisory body created by Act 40. The Wind Siting Council members have begun to provide input to Commission staff concerning these rules during a series of meetings in early 2010. The PSC will seek comments from the Wind Siting Council on the proposed draft rules issued by the Commission.
Any person may submit written comments on these proposed rules. Comments on the proposed rules will be accepted until July 7, 2010, at noon (July 6, 2010, at noon, if filed by fax). The comments are considered when staff is drafting the rules.
The PSC will hold hearings to take testimony from the public regarding the proposed rules in the Amnicon Falls Hearing Room at the Public Service Commission Building, 610 North Whitney Way, Madison, Wisconsin, on June 30, 2010. Act 40 requires that hearings regarding these rules also be held in Monroe County and a county other than Dane or Monroe, where developers have proposed wind energy systems. The PSC will also hold public hearings on these proposed rules at City Hall, Legislative Chambers, 160 West Macy Street in Fond du Lac on June 28, 2010, and Holiday Inn, 1017 East McCoy Boulevard in Tomah on June 29, 2010.
More information on the Wind Siting Council and the wind siting rulemaking pursuant to Act 40 can be found by visiting the Commission’s website and clicking on the Electronic Regulatory Filing System (ERF) at http://psc.wi.gov. Type case numbers 1-AC-231 in the boxes provided on the ERF system. To comment on the proposed rules, click on the Public Comments button on the PSC’s homepage and scroll down to select Wind Siting Rulemaking.
by jboullion | May 13, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a post by Jeff Sherman, president of OnMilwaukee.com, on Milwaukee Biz Blog:
One of the many things I truly love about Milwaukee is its commitment to its past and its steady, although sometimes too slow and sure, movement through its innovative present and onward to its future.
Streetcars, no doubt, are a testament to a city’s past but also to its success. Look at any modern, successful city and nearly all have integrated transportation systems that involve roads, sidewalks, highways, rail, streetcars, bikes, busses and more.
Milwaukee’s lagged way behind in the past 30 years, but now it’s poised to move forward in the transportation game. I know some cry about the costs. Honestly, its infrastructure that we need. I live downtown and rarely use the Marquette Interchange, but I pay for it and see its need. Sidewalks, roads and highways – they don’t “make money” but they do provide quality-of-life that we must have in greater Milwaukee.
I also realize that we can battle back and forth on ridership. Projections, though, show that Milwaukee’s 3.6-mile modern streetcar line is estimated to generate daily ridership of 3,800 passengers, a level that exceeds the ridership of all 11 MCTS Freeway Flyer routes and 12 of the 29 MCTS regular routes.
All numbers aside, it’s time once and for all to put petty politics behind and improve transportation in Milwaukee.
Transportation isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue; it’s a simple, quality-of-life matter.
So, here are my 8 reasons why you should look forward to the new streetcar system in downtown Milwaukee . . .
by jboullion | May 12, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a post by Milwaukee Alerman Robert Bauman on the Milwaukee Biz Blog:
Milwaukee County Clerk Joe Czarnezki has floated the idea of establishing a high-speed rail station in western Milwaukee County in the vicinity of the Milwaukee County Research Park. This is an excellent idea that deserves serious consideration by the state Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
In addition to the research park, this station would serve dense commercial development along Mayfair Road and the Milwaukee County Medical Complex. Employment in this area is second only to downtown Milwaukee. Moreover, this station would serve relatively dense suburban residential communities as well as west side Milwaukee neighborhoods.
A station on the high-speed rail line in the vicinity of Watertown Plank Road and Mayfair Road would be easily accessible via major arterial roads and within one mile of I-94 and Highway 45 interchanges and within one mile of busy Mayfair Mall. This station location would also be accessible to existing Milwaukee County Transit routes and could serve as an intermodal terminal for enhanced local transit service.
In short, this station location would generate significantly higher ridership than a stop in Brookfield.
by jboullion | May 11, 2010 | Uncategorized
Nick Matthes and Ed Stoll of Pieper Electric (who will be installing the PV), flank Rich Hinkelman of Solar Systems Inc (who build the racking for the system). All are MREA supporters and Energy Fair exhibitors!
From a post on Tom Content’s blog on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel site:
Leaders at Milwaukee Area Technical College kicked off the construction of the largest solar project in the state with a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday afternoon north of Capitol Drive.
The solar project — dubbed the Photovoltaic Educational Farm — will be developed on a former landfill along the Milwaukee River, underneath the television tower for MPTV, Milwaukee Public Television.
The project will feature nearly 2,600 solar panels from four different manufacturers, in eight different configurations. It’s scheduled to be completed in August.
The aim of the project is to showcase a variety of renewable energy technologies, as well as provide training in solar field to students at MATC as well as Milwaukee’s three engineering schools, said Brad Bateman of Johnson Controls.
“This will be a testing and training platform unlike any other in the country,” he said.
The project is projected to generate enough power to make the TV transmitter for MPTV the first of any public television station in the country to be powered with renewable energy. MPTV projects energy savings of at least $70,000 in its first year of operation.
The project will employ 150 people, said Sargent.
Johnson Controls Inc. is the technical college’s partner and general contractor on the project, which includes 14 other firms — 13 of them from Wisconsin.
by jboullion | May 10, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Don Behm of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The roof of Milwaukee’s Central Library sprang to life, and went to work, in Friday’s steady rain.
Thousands of sedum, a ground-covering plant, and clumps of chive and ornamental grasses – all perennials – were planted Friday in a six-inch layer of small gravel and soil spread across 30,000 square feet – nearly seven-tenths of an acre – to create a green roof atop the historic building, said Taj Schoening, business operations manager for the Milwaukee Public Library.
Its job is to mimic nature. The living roof will collect and store thousands of gallons of rainwater during a downpour, rather than allowing the clean water to drain immediately to a street sewer, Schoening said.
Each gallon of fresh water kept out of the pipes decreases the risk of sewer overflows, according to Kevin Shafer, executive director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.
Combined sanitary and storm sewers on Wisconsin Ave. in front of the library quickly fill with rain in a deluge and begin spilling into the district’s deep tunnels. Pipes draining street sewers into the tunnels are closed as the underground caverns fill, causing street sewers to overflow to local rivers and Lake Michigan.
Green roofs can become saturated after hours of heavy rainfall, and additional rain would slowly begin to drain to a street sewer. But that delay in draining to a sewer buys time for the district’s system of tunnels and sewage plants to treat earlier flows.
An added benefit for taxpayers is the durability of the library’s green roof, Schoening said.
“This will double the life expectancy of our flat roof,” she said. “We won’t have to do this again for 40 years.”
