by jboullion | Feb 18, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a letter to State Rep. Spencer Black and State Sen. Mark Miller from RENEW Wisconsin:
RENEW is pleased to provide the enclosed copy of the narrative and appendix of tables from an economic analysis that we commissioned.
The analysis concludes that special buyback rates (sometimes called Advanced Renewable Tariffs) designed to stimulate small-scale renewable energy installations would have negligible impact on residential utility bills, averaging about $10 a year. That’s less a dollar a month for the typical customer. And it’s less than a household’s cost of purchasing the smallest block of green power from Madison Gas and Electric, for instance.
Compared with other forms of economic stimulus, promoting small-scale renewables through utility buyback rates would deliver a substantial and long-lasting economic punch with minimal impact on the Wisconsin citizen’s pocketbook.
Prepared by Spring Green-based L&S Technical Associates, the study modeled rate impacts from the legislation’s provisions for ARTs on the state’s five largest utilities. The modeling predicts cost impacts ranging from a low of $8.12 a year for a residential customer of Wisconsin Public Service to as high as $11.07 for a Wisconsin Power and Light (Alliant) customer. The projected impact would amount to $8.81 a year for a We Energies customer, $9.71 for a Madison Gas and Electric customer, and $10.11 for an Xcel Energy customer.
The projections assume that when each utility reaches its maximum threshold of 1.5 percent of total retail sales. In the aggregate, this percentage equates to 1/70th of total annual sales. That’s one billion kilowatt-hours a year, out of total annual sales of 70 billion kilowatt-hour.
Though the principals of L&S Technical Associates serve on RENEW’s board of directors, they have prepared numerous renewable energy studies for other clients, including the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Center of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. L&S has also co-authored renewable energy potential studies in response to requests from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.
The bill’s renewable energy buyback provisions would unleash a steady flow of investment that would lead to new economic activity and jobs while moving us toward energy independence – exactly what we all hope to accomplish by passage of the Clean Energy Jobs Act legislation.
by jboullion | Feb 18, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Sean Ryan in The Daily Reporter:
People in Rothschild have a lot of questions about how We Energies’ proposed $250 million biomass plant project will affect their neighborhood.
The community has not heard much about the project since representatives from the state and We Energies visited Rothschild in September to announce plans to build a 50-megawatt biomass plant next to Domtar Corp.’s paper mill, said Village President Neil Torney, who said the plant’s burner would be built 1,400 feet from his house.
“There’s a few concerned citizens who live near the plant who would, naturally, have a bunch of questions,” he said. Torney said his list of questions is seven pages.
We Energies is sending people to knock on doors within a mile of the project to share information and gather comments, said spokesman Brian Manthey. On Saturday, the utility will hold its first project open house in Rothschild, he said.
We Energies planners, Manthey said, want to hear concerns before applying for Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approval in March or April so the designs can be changed to alleviate problems.
The project will supply jobs to the community and other economic benefits, Manthey said.
“Those are all good things, and those are real good community benefits,” he said. “And we want to make sure that we are out there as well to address any issues.”
Artist’s sketch courtesy of We Energies
by jboullion | Feb 17, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by in the Wisconsin Ag Connection:
As the University of Wisconsin-Platteville continues to explore renewable and sustainable energy sources on campus, one opportunity has more to do with the local bovine community than anything else. Tim Zauche, UWP professor and chair of the chemistry and engineering physics department, along with Chris Baxter, UWP assistant professor of agronomy, are leading a project team exploring the possibility of having an anaerobic digester on campus and another in the Platteville community.
An anaerobic digester uses bacteria to break down organic waste to produce methane, much like a cow’s stomach. One by-product of the bacteria digesting this waste is methane, also known as natural gas, which is used to heat homes and generate electricity.
“We need to mix the waste because, like our bodies, the bacteria can’t survive on sugar alone. We need to provide them with a balanced diet, so to speak,” said Zauche. “By using the same bacteria that produces gas in a cow’s stomach, we can turn waste into energy that can provide electricity or heat for homes. The material from four cows can provide the electricity for one home for a year and one digester could provide seven percent of UWP’s annual power consumption.”
Once used, the waste from the digester will be filtered into liquid and solid forms of fertilizer ready for direct field application and other forms of fertilizer use.
by jboullion | Feb 15, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by 1000 Friends
of Wisconsin:
Local property taxes would go down according to testimony given on Wednesday [February 10] by 100 Friends of Wisconsin.
“The demand-side provisions of the the transporation policies included in the Clean Energy Jobs legislation would drive down the costs of building and maintaining the transportation infrastructure,” according to
Steve Hiniker, Executive Director of 100 Friends of Wisconsin.
Hiniker provided testimony at Wedneday’s Senate Select Committee on Clean Energy hearing on the Clean Energy Jobs Act. The hearing focused on transportation and agricultural policies contained in the bill. 1000 Friends testimony focused on demand-side transportation policies that reduce the demand for driving a single occupant vehicle.
“The bill calls for simple strategies to significantly reduce teh costs of transportation facilities as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles. By focusing on infill development, enhancing transit options and eliminating subsidies for parking, communities canc tgive a hboost to the environment, make their communities better places to live and reduce taxes,” Hiniker noted.
The following strategies were highlighted at the hearing:
• Development of a market-based pricing model for parking . . .
• Planning grants for compact development . . .
• Metropolitan Planning Organization reform . . .
by jboullion | Feb 15, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Barry Adams in the Wisconsin State Journal:
MAZOMANIE — The furnace at Cardinal Solar Technologies on this village’s west side is far from ordinary.
Yes, it heats the 180,000-square-foot building. But the primary purpose of the $5.5 million, 120-foot-long apparatus, which took six months to install, is to harden 2-by-4-foot sheets of quarter-inch-thick glass used to make solar photovoltaic panels.
If projections bear out, it may be a while before the 1,200-degree, gas-fired convection furnace is allowed to cool, as more solar energy installations are built around the world.
“They’re mostly in Europe right now,” said Bob Bond, president of Cardinal ST. “But the United States is coming. I visited one near Las Vegas that will have a million panels sitting in the desert. And that will all be our glass.”
Very little of the energy used in the U.S. comes from the sun. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, petroleum, natural gas and coal accounted for 93 percent of the total in 2008. Renewable energy, which includes hydropower, biomass, geothermal, wind and solar, combined to make up the remainder. Solar energy accounted for just 1 percent.
But that sliver of the market, combined with state and federal incentives, has Cardinal ST officials enthusiastic about the future.
