by jboullion | Sep 21, 2016 | Uncategorized
September 13, 2016 – Madison.
Nearly 350 households in the Madison area have signed up to take the first step toward solar power for their homes, exceeding enrollment expectations for the MadiSUN Solar Group Buy Program. The City of Madison announced the Group Buy Program, along with a new Solar Energy Loan, in June of this year.
Twelve households have already signed contracts to install rooftop solar systems, putting the program well ahead of its goal to contract 15 solar systems by November 1, 2016. The solar systems contracted so far represent 55kw of solar electric capacity and over $150,000 in local renewable energy sales.
As MadiSUN approaches the end of its recruitment period on Monday September 19th, program managers remain optimistic that more households will choose to go solar.
“We are really pleased with the level of interest we’ve seen,” said Katherine Klausing, Engagement Manager at RENEW Wisconsin, the nonprofit program administrator. “Madison families recognize that putting solar panels on their homes can lower their energy costs and increase their property values. But it’s also an investment they can be proud to make. This is a step in the right direction.”
Interested households can sign up until Monday September 19 by visiting madisunsolar.com.
The success of the MadiSUN Group Buy comes at a time when cities across Wisconsin are looking at expanding access to solar. Solar group buy programs in Milwaukee, Racine and Eau Claire have also taken off this year. Nationwide, 73 percent of Americans say they want the US to prioritize renewable energy sources like solar and wind over fossil fuels like oil and gas.[1]
Many households are investing in solar to help their personal finances—a typical 4kw system can save a household over $1,700 in energy costs for each year of its 30-year life. But local solar energy businesses are also seeing a boost to their bottom lines.
“The MadiSUN Group Buy has been great in helping in us grow our business,” said Burke O’Neal of Full Spectrum Solar, a Madison-based solar installer selected to serve the group. As a result of the surge in new business, Full Spectrum Solar has hired an additional full-time staff member in its office and several part-time installers for its field crews.
Approximately 70 households have already taken advantage of a free solar property assessment, with dozens more scheduled this fall.
Madison resident Brian Lavendel is installing solar panels for himself and his neighbors, who rent the other part of Lavendel’s 2-unit home. “It was easy—it was like one-stop shopping. I attended an information session, which was particularly helpful because it brought together all of the pieces—the Group Buy, the federal tax credit, and the Focus on Energy program—so I got all of my questions answered. The fact that it was a Group Buy, with terms all set up, helped too. I didn’t have a lot of time to research the different companies and panels. I knew that RENEW Wisconsin had already negotiated on my behalf, so to speak,” Lavendel said. “This is something I’ve thought about for a long time. The low price of the panels and the increased efficiency in their energy production made it feasible. I probably could have done it earlier, but the MadiSUN program made it easy.”
Program Background: The MadiSUN Group Buy for Rooftop Solar program enables Madison residents to “go solar” together. The program selected Madison-based business Full Spectrum Solar to serve the group. The City’s investment in marketing and competitive bidding drove down the cost for each participant, resulting in savings of about 14 percent.
The cost of installing solar has never been lower, as homeowners can receive a Federal Tax Credit for 30 percent of the system cost, while Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy program offers up to $2400 in rebates for installing solar.
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin launched the programs in June as part of the City of Madison’s broader efforts to be more reliant on renewable energy sources. “These programs are going to be a financial win for all of us,” said Mayor Soglin in June as he launched the MadiSUN program. “They’re going to be a financial win for those who invest in solar and they’re going to be a financial win for our larger community.” In June the City passed an energy plan that seeks more renewable resources and proposes an inventory of city-owned land for solar energy development.
by jboullion | Sep 14, 2016 | Uncategorized
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RENEW Wisconsin’s Executive Director Tyler Huebner
receiving the Regulatory Champion of the Year award. |
RENEW Wisconsin has been honored as the 2016 “Regulatory Champion of the Year” by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), a national organization working on the advancement of clean energy.
The award was given at the annual Solar Power International conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday night.
RENEW won this people’s choice award for leading the campaign to overturn a proposal by We Energies, Wisconsin’s largest electric utility, to charge extra fees to customers who generate power for their own use from sources such as solar panels. These so-called “connection fees” would have amounted to approximately $20 per month for a typical residential solar customer, and thousands of dollars per month for dairy farmers who generate electricity from cow manure.
After the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) approved We Energies’ unprecedented proposal in November 2014, RENEW Wisconsin partnered with The Alliance for Solar Choice, a national solar advocacy organization, to challenge the PSCW’s decision in Dane County Circuit Court.
In October 2015, Judge Peter Anderson ruled that there was not sufficient evidence in the regulatory proceeding to justify the agency’s decision allowing We Energies to impose additional fees on that subset of customers who produce power for their own use, giving RENEW Wisconsin and TASC the legal victory.
IREC’s 2016 3iAwards honor innovation, ingenuity, and inspiration from the nation’s best in both renewable energy and energy efficiency. This year, over 1,000 people voted for the finalists in the People’s Choice awards, which was “an impressively distinguished group of meritorious projects and acclaimed people” according to IREC’s website.
“Not only does renewable energy help citizens and businesses save money on their energy bills, it also drives economic expansion and creates family-supporting jobs. The solar industry alone now has over 200,000 employees nationally. Our legal victory protects the ability of citizens and businesses to use the sunshine striking their rooftops to reduce their electricity bills, and fuels growth in Wisconsin’s solar and renewable energy markets. We are honored to receive this recognition from an esteemed national organization and based on the popular support of our members and experts within our field,” said Tyler Huebner, RENEW Wisconsin’s Executive Director.
See all the IREC 3iAward winners here.
by jboullion | Sep 13, 2016 | Uncategorized
More information
Tyler Huebner, Executive Director
608-575-2201 (cell)
tyler.huebner@renewwisconsin.org
On Sunday, October 2nd, RENEW Wisconsin will host its 4th annual “Ride with RENEW” bicycle tour highlighting renewable energy projects, with this year’s tour taking place in Fond du Lac and Eden.
The bike tour will showcase five unique installations of renewable energy and energy efficient operations. In total, the ride is approximately 30 miles long, and the pace is leisurely. Each stop will include a brief tour and discussion with experts on the project.
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| Vir-Clar Farm’s Anerobic Digester |
The ride will start at UW-Fond du Lac’s parking lot, where the riders will learn about sustainability projects that UW-FdL and Fond du Lac High School have undertaken, including a geothermal heat pump and efficient lighting.
From there, riders will use the Fond du Lac Loop to go west and then south, making their way to the new Grande Cheese building. The building is very energy efficient, and the company has applied for a designation called “LEED,” which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, to recognize its performance.
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| Cedar Ridge Wind Farm |
Next, riders will go southeast of Fond du Lac to visit Vir-Clar Farm, where they are “producing milk and power for America.” Vir-Clar has a system called an anaerobic digester which accepts cow manure from the dairy on-site, and uses the methane to generate electricity. In addition, the remaining components from the manure are put to more effective and safe use.
The fourth stop will be Cedar Ridge Wind Farm in the Towns of Eden and Empire, where Alliant Energy representatives will provide an overview of the wind farm. This is a utility-scale wind farm with 41 turbines that collectively produce enough energy for approximately 17,000 homes annually.
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| Sisters of St. Agnes’ Solar Array |
Finally, riders will head back north to visit the Sisters of Saint Agnes, who installed a large solar energy production project in 2015. The solar project is about 50 times as big as a typical home solar installation.
Sponsors of the Ride include Eland Electric (Green Bay), Grande Cheese, Horicon Bank, Wegner CPAs, Madison Solar Consulting, J.F. Ahern, Miron Construction, Wisnet.com, and the Open Circle Unitarian Universalist Fellowship’s Earth Justice Now committee. There is still time to sponsor if your business or organization wishes to do so.
Registration for the ride is open until the Monday preceding the ride, September 26th. The cost is $30 for members of RENEW Wisconsin, $40 for non-members, and $60 to both register for the ride and become a member of the organization for one year. Lunch will be catered by Eden Catering and will take place in Eden. The ride will start at 9am, and is expected to end by 4pm.
“We are very much looking forward to touring some of Fond du Lac and Eden’s great renewable energy projects on Sunday, October 2nd,” said Tyler Huebner, Executive Director of RENEW Wisconsin. “Visiting Fond du Lac and Eden allows us to showcase a variety of ways to produce homegrown, clean energy right here in Wisconsin including wind, solar, and manure, and to learn more about innovative energy efficient building operations. This bike ride has historically been one of my favorite days of the year, and I anticipate 2016’s event will be phenomenal as well.”
Fond du Lac residents and members of RENEW Wisconsin Tom Schuppe and Jeanne & John McDowell have been instrumental in planning the route, logistics, and spreading the word.
The “Ride with RENEW” bike tour has been in a different part of Wisconsin each year; previous rides were held in Madison, Milwaukee, and Lake Geneva.
by jboullion | Jun 8, 2016 | Utility Scale, Wind
More information
Tyler Huebner, Executive Director
608-575- 2201 (cell)
tyler.huebner@renewwisconsin.org
RENEW Applauds Dairyland Power and EDP Renewables for Wind Energy Expansion
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| Also in southwest Wisconsin, the Montfort Wind Farm |
Madison, WI – June 8, 2016
Today, Dairyland Power Cooperative, based in La Crosse, announced they will purchase power from a new utility-scale wind energy project in Lafayette County in southwest Wisconsin.
The “Quilt Block” wind project will be developed by EDP Renewables, which has its U.S. headquarters in Houston, Texas. The project is approximately 98 megawatts, which when constructed will provide over 15% of Wisconsin’s wind power.
RENEW Wisconsin’s Executive Director, Tyler Huebner, said “We congratulate and applaud Dairyland Power Cooperative and EDP Renewables for this major clean energy venture that will bring a multitude of benefits to southwest Wisconsin and Dairyland Power members throughout the state. Dairyland is making the most of the opportunity at hand to lock in the benefits of low-cost clean energy for its member cooperatives.”
The project will deliver savings to ratepayers as well as stimulate the local economy. Quilt Block will yield an annual revenue stream of nearly $400,000 to Lafayette County and the Town of Seymour, while creating hundreds of family-supporting jobs during construction. All across the Midwest, rural local governments have relied on utility-scale wind generation to minimize property tax increases.
Huebner said, “We also salute EDP Renewables for designing a wind power project that is strongly supported by the local community, and for staying with it for more than a dozen years.”
Concluded Huebner, “Between WPPI Energy’s recent windpower request-for- proposals announcement earlier this week, Dairyland’s multimegawatt solar energy initiative, and its new wind power project, renewable energy is now clearly cost-competitive in Wisconsin.”
Dairyland’s press release can be found at http://www.dairylandpower.com/dcontent/article/DPCWindExpansion75thAnnualMtg2016.pdf
This story was covered in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the La Crosse Tribune.
by jboullion | Mar 11, 2016 | Uncategorized
More information
Tyler Huebner, Executive Director
608-575-2201 (cell)
tyler.huebner@renewwisconsin.org
PSC Approves Madison Gas & Electric Community Solar
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Eau Claire Electric Cooperative’s 2015
872 kW Community Solar Array |
Madison, WI – March 11, 2016
Today, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, which regulates the state’s utilities, approved a Community Solar project for Madison Gas & Electric (MGE). “Community solar” is a single, larger solar project in which a large number of people collectively share in the cost to build the project and share in the benefits of the solar energy production. The MGE project will be 500 kilowatts and will be placed on the roof of the Middleton Operations Center in Middleton, WI. MGE estimates that 250 people will participate in this project.
MGE joins a host of other electric providers offering community solar in Wisconsin, but this project differs from the others in two key ways:
– Participants will pay a small up-front fee of 10% of the cost per solar panel, as opposed to paying the entire fee for a panel at once
– Participants will then pay a 12 cents per kilowatt-hour rate for the solar energy generated by the Middleton array for up to 25 years. This is higher than today’s energy-only rate. But standard electric rates are expected to rise over time and exceed the 12 cent energy-only rate in about 10 years, meaning customers will start saving money at that point. (Both standard rates and the solar rate will also see 3-4 cents per kilowatt-hour in distribution charges.)
MGE structured its program differently because it has different customer demographics and looked for a program option that would not require a large up-front fee.
“Solar energy development improves Wisconsin because it creates jobs and increases local, secure, and clean energy,” said Tyler Huebner, RENEW Wisconsin’s Executive Director. “Adding options for more customers to participate in solar is a smart business move for MGE. Nearly 90% of Wisconsinites want more solar power, but only about 1 in 4 customers can put solar on their own property. Community solar programs like this enable many more citizens to participate in building a clean energy economy. We congratulate MGE on gaining approval for this novel community solar program design, and we hope it is successful.”
MGE’s application and supplemental responses are available in Docket 3270-TE-101 at the PSC’s website, http://psc.wi.gov/.
September 13, 2016 – Madison.
