by jboullion | Feb 12, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Governor Doyle:
MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle today awarded $500,000 in Recovery Act funds to communities moving toward a clean energy future. The Governor announced 11 grants totaling $500,000 to help 24 communities develop plans to reach his “25 by 25” energy independence goals.
“These grants will help Wisconsin communities across the state seize the opportunity to save money through energy efficiency and grow a strong new part of our economy in clean energy,” Governor Doyle said. “Through the Recovery Act, our communities will lead as the world moves rapidly in the direction of clean energy and energy efficiency. We spend $16 billion on fossil fuel energy every year in Wisconsin, and all those dollars are lost to our economy. By working toward these ambitious renewable energy goals, we will create good jobs and continue our state’s clean energy leadership.”
The grant program is funded through the Recovery Act’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program. The 24 communities will create “25×25” plans to meet the Governor’s goal of generating 25 percent of the state’s electricity and transportation fuels from renewable resources by the year 2025.
The 2010 Wisconsin Energy Independent Community Partnership Pilots are: City of Altoona, Crawford County, City of Eau Claire, Eau Claire County, City of Fennimore, Village of Ferryville, Green Lake County, City of Gays Mills, City of Jefferson, City of Kaukauna, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Village of La Farge, City of Monona, Polk County, City of Prairie du Chien, Shawano County, Village of Soldiers Grove, Vernon County, Village of Viola, City of Viroqua, Waukesha County, and City of Whitewater.
The 25×25 plan process begins this month and will be completed by December 2010. During the process, opportunities will be available for other communities to learn from the experiences of the pilot communities. Open meetings on the topic will be held by the Office of Energy Independence during the months of April, August and December.
The program builds on Governor Doyle’s work to make Wisconsin a clean energy leader. Last month, Governor Doyle launched the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a landmark legislative package to accelerate the state’s green economy and create jobs.
by jboullion | Feb 11, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Scott Williams in The Northwestern (Oshkosh):
A wind farm developer has cautioned town of Holland officials that their moratorium on construction of wind farms is not legally enforceable.
Invenergy LLC, which is seeking state approval for a wind farm in southern Brown County, also questions Holland’s toughened setback requirements for wind turbines.
“Regardless of the town’s desire to enact such a moratorium or setbacks, it has no power to do so,” Invenergy attorney Peter Gardon wrote in a six-page letter dated Feb. 4.
The Holland Town Board voted Feb. 1 to impose a one-year moratorium on wind farm construction so residents could have more time to study and debate the Invenergy plan. The Chicago-based company wants to build 22 wind turbines in Holland, as well as 78 more in the neighboring towns of Morrison, Wrightstown and Glenmore.
It would be the first major commercial wind farm in Brown County and the largest in Wisconsin.
An opposition group called Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy has urged Holland and the other towns to enact moratoriums.
by jboullion | Feb 10, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by Govenor Doyle:
MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle announced today that the City of Madison, Kenosha County and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) have joined the Wisconsin Energy Independent Community Partnership. They have pledged to work toward Governor Doyle’s “25×25” goal of generating 25 percent of the state’s electricity and transportation fuels from renewable resources by the year 2025. . . .
“I welcome Madison, Kenosha County and MMSD as new partners in working toward energy independence that keeps energy dollars in our state, creates good jobs and cleans our air and water,” Governor Doyle said. “Every year, we send $16 billion out of state to power our homes and businesses and fuel our cars. Building a clean energy economy is not only an enormous opportunity to capture those dollars, but also create good jobs here in Wisconsin.”
Last month, Governor Doyle launched the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a landmark legislative package to accelerate the state’s green economy and create jobs. The package calls for updating renewable portfolio standards to generate 25 percent of Wisconsin’s fuel from renewable sources by 2025 and sets a realistic goal of a 2 percent annual reduction in energy consumption by 2015. A comprehensive economic assessment of the package found that it would directly create at least 15,000 green jobs in Wisconsin by 2025.
by jboullion | Feb 9, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an editorial in The Journal Times (Racine):
Gov. Jim Doyle doesn’t want to talk about his legacy just yet and wants to get things done, but that’s not likely because the Legislature has largely checked out for the year.
When Doyle presented his State of the State address, and also in a meeting with The Journal Times Editorial Board, he talked about his energy ideas and the need to move Wisconsin and its economy toward a different energy future. He said quite rightly that if the United States had pursued the alternative energy ideas which sprouted in the wake of the Arab oil embargo 37 years ago, we would not today be burdened by gasoline at $3 and $4 a gallon. He also rightly commented that Wisconsin spends billions every year on fuel — money which quickly leaves the state instead of being put to other uses in the local economy.
China and Europe are not standing still, he said, but are pushing into alternative energy technologies. Look at the wind turbines sprouting all over Wisconsin. Many of them bear the logo of Vestas. That’s not a Wisconsin company. It’s a Danish one. The question is whether Wisconsin will join these producers, putting to use its manufacturing base and skilled workers.
But to do any of this, Doyle needs legislators to meet. A newspaper story which followed his State of the State address noted that lawmakers will meet at most a dozen times between now and May. Then they’ll take the rest of the year off for elections and won’t return to the Capitol until January 2011, when the new Legislature will be seated and begin work on the biennial budget.
by jboullion | Feb 8, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a blog post on BizTimes by Robert Mariano, chairman and chief executive officer of Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc. in Milwaukee, co-written by Dick Hansen, president and CEO of Johnson Financial Group Inc., Racine:
On behalf of the nearly 7,400 employees we represent, we wish to express the important role regional transportation plays in our economic future. We are committed to ensuring dedicated funding for a balanced regional transit system and encouraging our business colleagues to do the same.
We represent two of southeastern Wisconsin’s largest institutions and provide critical services to thousands of local residents on a daily basis. We understand that a fully-funded transit infrastructure impacts our clients, customers, business, and the economic climate in southeastern Wisconsin. We have hundreds of employees that use buses to get to work every day, however that number continues to decrease as the bus system disintegrates. Continued cuts to the system impair our employees’ ability to get to work and our clients’ and customers’ ability to get critical services and products.
We hope it is clear that we understand firsthand how transit affects our larger community as well as our specific organizations, and we are committed to working with the Legislature to see that a politically and economically sound funding source for transit is implemented in our region during this session.
We are issuing a call to action for our representatives in Madison. We need a truly regional, multi-county, multi-modal regional transit authority including Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee Counties to be immediately focused on improving bus transit throughout the region and advancing the KRM commuter rail project. We must have a dedicated funding mechanism for transit, which must provide property tax relief, restore routes and rescind fare increases to allow for efficient and effective bus operations throughout the region to allow for economic development and regional growth.
