by jboullion | Feb 26, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Jessica Steinhoff in The Shepard Express:
The time to green your resume is now.
The federal Green Jobs Act got a $500 million boost from the economic stimulus package and is expected to train 70,000 workers in renewable-energy and energy-efficiency jobs. Plus, a floundering economy is nudging companies to hire employees to design and implement energy-savings plans and other cost-saving measures.
Wisconsin Environment Director Dan Kohler is pleased with the strategy for building a greener workforce—particularly on the state and local levels. “The federal recovery plan includes significant funding to help states design educational programs to get workers moving ahead in the green economy,” he says.
In Wisconsin, universities, technical colleges and government and community workforce-development agencies will all play a role in the training effort. Gov. Jim Doyle’s global-warming task force has been helping these institutions team up with the private sector to develop a comprehensive training strategy that will address job seekers with a variety of different skill sets. Meanwhile, local colleges are rushing to design courses and curricula in a wide variety of green disciplines, from sustainable operations management to water technology.
Though a full graduate-level program is still in the works, UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences is offering courses in freshwater ecosystem health and a variety of other topics.
At Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), there’s a comprehensive selection of green career paths, including new programs in environmental and water technology, sustainable operations, and energy engineering. There are also numerous opportunities for people to add green credentials to their existing skill set at Lakeshore Technical College, Gateway Technical College and MATC.
The Wisconsin Renewable Energy Summit at the Midwest Airline Center includes a career/jobs day on March 27. Schools and other training organizations, as well as employers, will be set up in the exhibition hall.
by jboullion | Feb 26, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by WPPI Energy (formerly Wisconsin Public Power, Inc.):
WPPI Energy has established a $10 million revolving loan fund to make zero-interest loans to help its members lead by example in the areas of energy efficiency, conservation and the use of renewable energy.
“Saving energy and increasing our local use of renewable resources is one of the most important investments we can make for the future,” said WPPI Energy President and CEO Roy Thilly. “Increased efficiency will help lower the energy costs for member communities, defer the need for expensive new power plants, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and keep customer bills down in a rising rate environment.”
WPPI Energy’s members include 49 municipalities in Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Iowa, and one Upper Michigan cooperative electric association. The WPPI Energy Member Loan Program is designed to help members implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects on utility and other municipally owned property, thereby lowering operating costs and meeting members’ local energy needs with local renewable resources.
Typical projects will include:
+ Building or equipment efficiency upgrades
+ Meeting U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards for building projects
+ LED street lights and traffic signals
+ Efficient fleet vehicles
+ Photovoltaic solar panel systems
WPPI’s member utilities are in the following communities:
Alger Delta, MI
Algoma
Baraga, MI
Black River Falls
Boscobel
Brodhead
Cedarburg
Columbus
Cuba City
Eagle River
Evansville
Florence
Gladstone, MI
Hartford
Hustisford
Independence, IA
Jefferson
Juneau
Kaukauna
L’Anse, MI
Lake Mills
Lodi
Maquoketa, IA
Menasha
Mount Horeb
Muscoda
Negaunee, MI
New Glarus
New Holstein
New London
New Richmond
Norway, MI
Oconomowoc
Oconto Falls
Plymouth
Prairie du Sac
Reedsburg
Richland Center
River Falls
Slinger
Stoughton
Sturgeon Bay
Sun Prairie
Two Rivers
Waterloo
Waunakee
Waupun
Westby
Whitehall
by jboullion | Feb 24, 2009 | Uncategorized
An editorial from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The economic stimulus package approved last week gives Wisconsin and other states an opportunity to ease the financial crisis by doing more than just making ends meet. Money in the package aimed at energy projects provides an opportunity to move from an economy too reliant on fossil fuels and toward an economy based on sustainable green energy.
As the Journal Sentinel’s Thomas Content detailed in an article last week:
Wisconsin businesses and governments should receive at least $276 million, and possibly more, in energy-related funds from the economic stimulus bill, according to the state agency in charge of the recovery. Energy provisions in the stimulus package include funding for efforts to make buildings more efficient and to boost the use of renewable energy sources such as wind turbines and solar panels.
Also included are tax credits for manufacturers of energy technologies and for consumers who improve the energy efficiency of their homes or buy plug-in hybrid cars. For instance, homeowners will get credits of up to $1,500 for energy upgrades, such as purchases of qualified furnaces and insulation.
Wisconsin is likely to receive $146 million to weatherize some of the most inefficient buildings in the state. An additional $130 million or so is expected under two kinds of grants for energy-efficiency and other projects.
And Johnson Controls, the state’s largest company, is in a great position to take advantage of the stimulus money for its own work in energy efficiency.
There are opportunities here, too, for governments and their taxpayers. Making school buildings more energy efficient, for example, would reduce energy bills, allowing districts to spend money on textbooks or teachers or to reduce taxes, and put people to work retrofitting buildings. That kind of spending is a real win-win.
Times are hard. But using the stimulus money to help foster a greener economy could position Wisconsin for a healthier and more prosperous future.
by jboullion | Feb 23, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Johnson Controls has begun generating electricity from the largest solar power system in the state – nearly 1,500 panels erected on the northeast corner of the company’s headquarters campus in Glendale.
The solar power system is part of the $73 million renovation and rehabilitation of the headquarters campus and power solutions businesses for the state’s largest company – and will be a showpiece for Johnson Controls as it tries to persuade customers to incorporate renewable energy into their buildings.
Power began generating this month after We Energies commissioned the solar system, said Don Albinger, vice president of renewable energy solutions at Johnson Controls.
The expansion of solar power is timely, coming as the stimulus package was signed into law. Energy experts are marveling at the array of tax benefits aimed at bringing more renewable energy online quickly, such as provisions that provide federal loan guarantees and accelerated depreciation for renewable projects.
“In these dismal times, we’ve got to look for some bright spots, and to me a great bright spot is the stuff that’s involved with renewable energy in that stimulus bill,” said Art Harrington, an energy lawyer with Godfrey & Kahn in Milwaukee.
Godfrey hosted three meetings across the state this week that drew about 500 businesspeople looking to learn more about economic opportunities created by the stimulus law, Harrington said.
“My advice to clients is to get knowledgeable on this stimulus bill,” he said. “Get knowledgeable quickly and then follow the money.”
by jboullion | Feb 18, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Wisconsin businesses and governments should receive at least $276 million, and possibly much more, in energy-related funds from the economic stimulus bill that President Barack Obama signed Tuesday, according to the state agency in charge of the recovery.
Energy provisions in the stimulus package include funding for efforts to make buildings more efficient and to boost the use of renewable energy sources such as wind turbines and solar panels.
Also included are tax credits for manufacturers of energy technologies and for consumers who improve the energy efficiency of their homes or buy plug-in hybrid cars. For instance, homeowners will get credits of up to $1,500 for energy upgrades, such as purchases of qualified furnaces and insulation.
Wisconsin is likely to receive $146 million to weatherize some of the most inefficient buildings in the state. An additional $130 million or so is expected under two kinds of grants for energy-efficiency and other projects, said David Jenkins, who is handling energy projects for the state Office of Recovery and Reinvestment.
“In addition to that money, there are 11 different energy- and energy-science-related competitive grant programs, some of which hold promise for Wisconsin,” he said. “Our companies and universities and technical colleges are going to do a good job of competing for that money.”
