by jboullion | Aug 24, 2012 | Uncategorized
A thank you letter from RENEW Executive Director Don Wichert:
Thanks for stopping by the RENEW Wisconsin booth or talking with me at the Polk County Energy Fair.
RENEW is the organized voice for clean renewable energy in Wisconsin, and as a membership organization, we critically need your support to effectively advocate for businesses, organizations, and individuals who seek more, clean renewable energy in Wisconsin.
We have an aggressive agenda for the remainder of 2012, and by working together we can organize to implement positive change in Wisconsin’s renewable energy landscape.
Despite the many challenges we face, RENEW continues to advance the following positive policy agenda to expand renewable energy for everyone in Wisconsin:
- Build a coalition in support of our Clean Energy Choice initiative, which would allow customers to purchase renewable energy from systems located on their premises and owned by third parties;
- Represent renewable energy stakeholders at the PSC and with the Focus on Energy administrators to offer proactive options for the renewable energy program;
- Improve the state’s outdated interconnection requirements. We are proud of our work to organize Wisconsin’s renewable energy stakeholders into a community that speaks with one voice. But we need your active participation to advocate on your behalf.
Please become a RENEW member by making a tax-deductible donation to RENEW: Join RENEW. Help us push the renewable energy envelop in Wisconsin to a new level for the remainder of 2012.
Feel free to contact me with suggestions or if there are ways that RENEW can assist you.
Sincerely,
Don Wichert
Executive Director
RENEW Wisconsin
by jboullion | Aug 16, 2012 | Uncategorized
RENEW Wisconsin invites our members and other renewable energy supporters to our membership meeting at the Polk County Energy Fair, 1:00 p.m., August 18, in St. Croix Falls. If you are not yet a member, please Join Today!
For the meeting’s highlight, I’ll release an evaluation of major Wisconsin utilities’ commitment to renewable energy — Xcel actually does reasonably well — and invite area media to cover the evaluation announcement, meeting, and fair.I’ll also report on the progress RENEW has made in advancing three statewide priorities that should be beneficial in northwest Wisconsin as well:
- Build a coalition in support of our Clean Energy Contract initiative, which would allow customers to purchase renewable energy from systems located on their premises and owned by third parties;
- Represent renewable energy stakeholders at the PSC and with the Focus on Energy administrators to offer proactive options for the renewable energy program;
- Improve utilities’ outdated interconnection requirements.
RENEW thanks the sponsors of the meeting:
Chippewa Valley Alternative Energy, a small, family-owned business in west-central Wisconsin, has been involved in the alternative energy field in for over 25 years, and has been heavily involved in many aspects of thermal, pyrolation and gasification energy technologies; and, Jeff Peterson, a RENEW member, are sponsoring RENEW’s membership/public meeting at the Polk County Energy Fair, August 18, at 1:00 pm in St. Croix Falls.
by jboullion | Aug 13, 2012 | Uncategorized
From a story by Justin Guay, Sierra Club International Program:
Of course they still have to face the problems they have inherited from trying to copy/paste a centralized grid from the West. So what can they do to solve peak problems with the grid they already have in place? Deploy lots and lots of distributed solar and efficiency.
That’s because, unlike coal, solar for the most part is available when you need it – during peak hours. Which is why it’s great to see States like Gujarat taking the lead in roof top solar programs with the support of the IFC. And efficiency makes the peaks smaller so you need less power in the first place.
The irony here of course is that distributed generation has always been ignored as trivial compared to the real need for a large scale ‘modern grid.’ That’s because policymakers and commentators lack the imagination to understand the fact that when aggregated, small can be very, very big.
Take the hidden truth behind India’s modern grid (as my colleague Jigar Shah points out): it is actually already a distributed system that is largely powered by filthy, costly diesel gen sets. That’s because power outages are so frequent that businesses and wealthy individuals have been forced to pay for this backup generation to ensure power. This is a tremendous opportunity for companies seeking targeted diesel replacement strategies to save people and companies tremendous amounts of money, while providing reliable power.
by jboullion | Aug 10, 2012 | Uncategorized
Chippewa Valley Alternative Energy is a small, family-owned business in west-central Wisconsin. It has been involved in the alternative energy field in for over 25 years, and have been heavily involved in many aspects of thermal, pyrolation and gasification energy technologies; and, Jeff Peterson, a RENEW member, are sponsoring RENEW’s membership/public meeting at the Polk County Energy Fair, August 18, at 1:00 pm in St. Croix Falls.
by jboullion | Aug 9, 2012 | Uncategorized
Don Wichert, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, will update RENEW members and other fairgoers at 1:00 pm, August 18 at the Polk County Energy Fair.
The initiatives will benefit any person or business wanting to install a renewable energy system, as well as those already installed.
Don will discuss RENEW’s work to:
- Build a coalition in support of our Clean Energy Choice initiative, which would allow customers to purchase renewable energy from systems located on their premises and owned by third parties;
- Represent renewable energy stakeholders at the PSC and with the Focus on Energy administrators to offer proactive options for the renewable energy program;
- Improve utilities’ outdated interconnection requirements.
RENEW is also actively engaged in other initiatives to expand the clean renewable energy marketplace in Wisconsin.
Thanks to Jeff Peterson for assisting RENEW and co-sponsoring the presentation.
