by jboullion | Sep 16, 2010 | Uncategorized
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2010
MORE INFORMATION
RENEW Wisconsin
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
MGE Rate Filing Rewards Fossil Fuel Use, Penalizes Renewable Energy
RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide renewable energy advocacy organization, today called on Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) to scrap its pending request to substantially increase the cost of participation in its voluntary renewable energy subscription program.
RENEW contends that MGE does not need a higher renewable rate because the cost of energy supplying its award-winning Green Power Tomorrow program have not changed over the last 18 months and will not for the foreseeable future. The utility is seeking permission from the Public Service Commission (PSC) to increase the renewable energy rate from 1.25 cents to 2 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), a 60% increase.
If approved, the voluntary premium that MGE customers will pay for sponsoring more wind and solar electricity production will be significantly higher than what other Wisconsin utilities charge. In contrast, Milwaukee-Based We Energies charges a 1.38 cents/kWh premium to participate in its Energy for Tomorrow program. That rate, which received a slight upward adjustment in 2009, will remain in effect through 2011.
“Nothing about this price hike makes any sense,” said Michael Vickerman, Executive Director of RENEW Wisconsin. “Program costs haven’t changed. Wind and solar energy is no more costly this year than it was in 2009, and next year it will be more of the same. Therefore, Green Power Tomorrow’s premium should remain where it is today.”
As part of the upcoming hearings on this proposal, RENEW Wisconsin will introduce a new approach to setting the purchase price of renewable energy, one that would insulate customers from the whiplash of fluctuating fossil energy prices. RENEW Wisconsin’s proposal is supported by the City of Madison, a large purchaser of renewable energy and a party in the PSC proceeding.
Vickerman pointed out that a price increase of this magnitude is certain to drive down customer participation levels, which MGE itself has acknowledged in its filings. In fact, MGE anticipates little to no increase in program revenues even if the 60% increase is approved.
In testimony filed at the PSC, Vickerman stated that Green Power Tomorrow expanded rapidly in 2008 and 2009 after reducing its premium from more than 2.6 cents to 1 cent/kWh. In that period, the customer participation rate climbed to nearly 10%, the third-highest ranking among all U.S. utilities, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. In 2009, the pool of voluntary renewable energy serving program subscribers was nearly as large as the supply of renewable energy required under Wisconsin’s Renewable Energy Standard, Vickerman said.
“Through their purchases, Green Power Tomorrow subscribers eliminated in 2009 the production of about 95,000 tons of carbon dioxide from fossil energy sources at no cost to nonparticipating ratepayers,” Vickerman said.
“Up until now, Green Power Tomorrow has been a relatively inexpensive way for customers to lower greenhouse gas emissions that come from burning coal,” Vickerman said. “But by doubling the cost of renewable energy in less than two years, MGE will effectively encourage customers to drop out of the program, and take possession of the unsold renewable energy credits for its own use. This is bound to alienate customers who wish to support renewable energy generation and reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions.”
The proposal to raise the renewable energy subscription rate, submitted as part of MGE’s application to raise overall retail rates by nearly 10%, will be the subject of hearings later in September. If approved, a typical customer subscribing at the 100% level in Green Power Tomorrow would pay $3.75 more a month beginning January 1, 2011.
–END–
RENEW Wisconsin is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives. More information on RENEW’s Web site at www.renewwisconsin.org.
by jboullion | Aug 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
From the testimony of Michael Vickerman in opposition to the request of Wisconsin Public Service Corporation to increase the cost of renewable energy purchased by customers in the NatureWise green-pricing program:
The purpose of my testimony is threefold: (1) to discuss how basing buyback rates on locational marginal pricing (LMP’s) penalizes low-risk renewable energy sources; (2) to encourage Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS), with the support of the Commission, to establish a net energy billing tariff for small wind energy systems up to 100 kilowatts and (3) to urge the Commission to hold WPS’s NatureWise premium at 1.25 cents/kWh.
by jboullion | Jul 12, 2010 | Uncategorized
Commentary
by Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin
July 12, 2010
About 100 people gathered in downtown Madison in early July to take part in “Hands Across the Sands,” an internationally organized protest against continued oil drilling in and along the world’s coastal waters. Against the backdrop of the weed-choked waters of Lake Monona, they joined hands for 15 minutes to express their fervent desire to see a cleaner, less destructive energy future emerge from the liquid melanoma spreading across the Gulf of Mexico.
No doubt the protestors would like to do more, much more, than simply engage in ritualized protest in front of a few camera crews. But we live in a society that is organized around the expectation of a limitless supply of nonrenewable hydrocarbons feeding concentrated energy into our economic bloodstream. Most of us have not bothered to comprehend the yawning gulf that lies between our best intentions and our abject dependence on the wealth-producing properties of petroleum. Nor how this addiction fills us with delusions of godlike mastery over our environment while blinding us to the reality that we humans have grossly overshot our planet’s carrying capacity.
For those who read and still remember the science fiction classic Dune, the “spice” on Arrakis remains the quintessential literary analogy to the reality of Earth’s oil. Like our oil, the spice held a special place in that world as the ultimate prize worth waging wars and plundering hostile environments for.
To carry the analogy further, if oil has become the spice, as it were, of America, then America has become our planet’s House of Harkonnen. Each great power has been willing to deploy their military supremacy to launch pre-emptive strikes on distant lands to assert control over the most valuable resource in their domain. In Dune, the invasion of Arrakis began as a rout, but over time evolved into a wearying, treasury-sapping occupation that ultimately cost the House of Harkonnen its status as a great power. Sound familiar?
Extracting these highly prized resources is dangerous business. On Arrakis, careless spice miners wind up as snack food for giant sandworms coursing through the sands. On our fair planet, British Petroleum’s stumbling ways a mile below the sea surface let loose a lethal eruption and a tide of goo now washing over countless estuaries and coastal outposts dense with life.
Just as the universe in Dune revolves around the spice, petroleum sets the rhythms and beats that make up life in America. It powers our comings and goings, our getting and spending. It is the fuel that carries us and our possessions across continents and over oceans. It makes possible the transporting of lettuce grown in California to supermarkets in Florida, and enables an envelope picked up in Phoenix to be flown to Memphis and then to Seattle in under 24 hours.
In fact, petroleum is the fuel of fuels, powering diesel trains that pull 130 carfuls of Wyoming coal to electric generating stations in Wisconsin and Georgia. Diesel seems to be everywhere, in tankers carrying crude oil, in trucks hauling solar electric panels, and in cranes assembling 250-ton wind energy turbines.
It’s worth mentioning that all the boats that gather shrimp and oysters from the Louisiana coastline are equipped with engines that run on diesel fuel. Gone are the days when baymen reached their favored fishing grounds using muscle power and wind energy. Without petroleum, shrimping ceases to be the industrial enterprise it is today.
But while diesel is ubiquitous, crude oil is not. The big, shallow reservoirs have all been discovered and many of them are showing signs of exhaustion. But as long as the demand for petroleum remains at current levels, oil companies have no choice but to fan out to the most remote corners to find the next big strike. Yet because we have fashioned an economy that can’t operate “normally” without petroleum, it will be extremely challenging, if not downright impossible, to effect an organized program of reducing oil consumption through political channels. To the extent we’ll see any policy response to our energy predicament, it is highly unlikely that it will be anything more enlightened than what the House of Harkonnen cooked up under similar circumstances.
Americans from all walks of life believe that we can accomplish anything if we put our collective will and ingenuity to it. But invoking that appealing myth will not help us extricate ourselves from our present predicament. What we need instead is the capacity to envision a fulfilling and livable world without copious quantities of petroleum. Only then do we have a chance of breaking the spell that has put us in the thrall of this wondrous energy source.
Need I mention that once you begin to appreciate the finitude of the Earth’s endowment of petroleum, there’s nothing to stop you from taking immediate steps to curb your personal consumption of this irreplaceable fuel. Whatever you do to lessen your dependence on petroleum will turn out to be a much more satisfying and meaningful response to our energy predicament than any canned protest promoted through Facebook.
As for myself, I made two resolutions since the Macondo well erupted. The first is to go through this summer without activating the household air-conditioner. So far, so good, I can report. (Luckily, we were spared the triple-digit temperature swelterfest that gripped the East Coast last week). It wasn’t that long ago that life without air-conditioning was the norm rather than the exception. If we all resolved not to turn on air-conditioners, we could force the retirement of two to three coal-fired plants in this state.
The other change was to ratchet up my reliance on my bicycle and make it the default vehicle for all my local travels, irrespective of weather conditions. I have been a fair-weather bicycle commuter for many years, but after watching everyone on TV blame someone else for the catastrophe, I felt the need to push myself a little harder. My objective here is to regard my car as a luxury that one day I might do without.
Though the extra perspiration and the occasional dodging of raindrops may take some getting used to, you are going to sleep better at night. Trust me on this.
If the oil spill has prompted a similar response from you, feel free to describe them and send them to the moderator of our Peak Oil blog below. Thank you.
Michael Vickerman is executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a sustainable energy advocacy organization. For more information on the global and national petroleum and natural gas supply picture, visit “The End of Cheap Oil” section in RENEW Wisconsin’s web site: www.renewwisconsin.org. These commentaries also posted on RENEW’s blog: http://renewwisconsinblog.org and Madison Peak Oil Group’s blog: http://www.madisonpeakoil-blog.blogspot.com
by jboullion | Jul 8, 2010 | Uncategorized
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2010
MORE INFORMATION
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
Stakeholders Cite Uniformity as Key to Wind Siting Success
Collectively drawing upon the individual roadblocks that developers experienced in permitting wind energy projects in Wisconsin, a group of renewable energy stakeholders urged the Public Service Commission to adopt standards that can’t be undermined by additional restrictions imposed by local governments.
The comments, submitted on behalf of 38 signatories, addressed the draft siting rule published by the Commission in mid-May. The draft rule proposed standards applicable to all wind energy systems — large and small — erected in Wisconsin. In the next phase of this proceeding, the Commission will review the public comments before issuing a final rule in August.
The rule will specify, among other things, setback distances from neighbors, sound limits, shadow flicker durations, procedures for decommissioning inoperable turbines, and mitigating electronic signal interference.
Noting that local governments would have discretionary authority going beyond the legislation’s intentions, renewable energy supporters recommended specific changes to give developers a greater sense of certainty in the permitting process.
“We are willing to work collaboratively and cooperatively with political subdivisions to establish mutually agreeable provisions beyond the requirements of the rules,” the stakeholders said in their joint comments. “However, we cannot develop wind projects in Wisconsin if current uncertainty regarding political subdivision requirements continues.”
“Many worthy projects have been stalled by changes made to ordinances after the project application was filed,” said Michael Vickerman, Executive Director of RENEW Wisconsin, a
renewable energy advocacy organization and a signatory to the joint comments. “We have to ensure that the rules don’t create opportunities for new restrictions that could bring wind energy development to a standstill.”
One example of such a restriction would be a requirement on developers to guarantee property values in the project area, Vickerman said. “Those kinds of conditions have nothing to do with protecting public health and safety, but would certainly increase wind development costs. Their real purpose would be to make wind energy an economic non-starter in whichever community that adopts those requirements.”
The comments submitted on behalf of renewable energy stakeholders can be retrieved at this link — http://psc.wi.gov/apps35/ERF_view/viewdoc.aspx?docid=134452
END
RENEW Wisconsin (http://www.renewwisconsin.org/) is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives.
by jboullion | Jun 9, 2010 | Uncategorized
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2010
MORE INFORMATION
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
Executive Director
608.255.4044
Randy Faller
Project Manager
Kettle View Renewable Energy
920.994.9433
Eve Frankel
Northern Power Systems
Marketing Communications Manager
802.461.2935
Village of Cascade Installs Two Wind Turbines at Wastewater Plant
With the start-up of two 100-kilowatt (kW) wind turbines, the Village of Cascade became the first Wisconsin community to power its municipal wastewater treatment plant with 100 percent locally produced wind energy.
The impetus behind Cascade’s embrace of wind power was the avoided utility expenditures associated with operating a wastewater treatment plant. In the first year of operation, Cascade stands to save $30,000. With anticipated increases in electric rates, the Village of Cascade should save more than one million dollars over the thirty-year life of the turbines.
Additional revenue will come from the sale of excess power to We Energies.
“With these two turbines, the Village of Cascade has taken a giant step toward energy independence,” said Michael Vickerman. “Its prudent investment in wind energy will enable the community to control its energy budget, saving money for current and future residents.”
Kettle View Renewable Energy, LLC, a wind system installer located in nearby Random Lake, installed and commissioned Cascade’s turbines.
“We are proud that our local efforts on this project made this the first net-zero wastewater treatment plant in Wisconsin,” said project manager Randy Faller. “It speaks volumes to the commitment by the Village of Cascade to generate clean, domestic energy while saving their community money.”
These two turbines double the number of Northwind 100s operating in Wisconsin to four, all installed in the last 12 months. The first two installed turbines serve schools in Wausau and Fort Atkinson.
Northern Power Systems, the Vermont turbine manufacturer, “couldn’t be more pleased that our technologically advanced, American-made Northwind 100 turbines are delivering real energy solutions for municipalities, schools, businesses and farms across Wisconsin,” said Mr. Brett Pingree, Vice President of Americas at Northern Power Systems.
Grants from Milwaukee-based We Energies and Focus on Energy were instrumental in supplementing Cascade’s investment in the project.
END
RENEW Wisconsin: (http://www.renewwisconsin.org/) is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives.
Northern Power Systems: (http://www.northernpower.com/) Northern Power has over 30 years of experience in developing advanced, innovative wind turbines. The company’s next generation wind turbine technology is based on a vastly simplified architecture that utilizes a unique combination of permanent magnet generators and direct-drive design. This revolutionary new approach delivers higher energy capture, eliminates drive-train noise, and significantly reduces maintenance and downtime costs. Northern Power systems is a fully integrated company that designs, manufactures and sells wind turbines into the global marketplace from its headquarters in Vermont, USA.
Kettle View Renewable Energy LLC (http://www.kettleviewre.com/) provides consulting, site assessments, and installation services for wind energy systems.
