by jboullion | Feb 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
From the newsletter of Energy Concepts, Hudson, WI:
Wisconsin residents have their own “perfect storm” solar incentive brewing: the combined credits from Focus on Energy, the Federal tax credit and the State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program (SEEARP) can reduce the cost of a solar hot water system by over 50%.
Let’s tote them up:
• Focus on Energy will support qualifying solar thermal systems up to $20 a therm, to a maximum of $2,750 per system.
• SEEARP, which is actually a Federal program initiated under the 2009 Recovery and Reinvestment act, will reimburse the same system up to $2,000.
• The Federal 30% tax credit can be applied to the balance of the installation cost.
A sample cost worksheet might look like this:
Installation cost: $11,000
Focus Rebate: $2,250
SEEARP: $2,000
Federal Credit: $2,025
Total Credits: $6,275
Final Cost: $4,725
Price reduction on system: 57%
This does not include possible MACRS depreciation recapture should the system be installed in a business–that could shave another 10%–15% from net system cost.
How much energy savings accrue annually is dependant on how much hot water is consumed and what the price of gas or electricity is in your area.
But, solar hot water is known to produce the shortest payback period in the renewable energy industry. It would not be wild speculation, given energy inflation, to say that the above system would pay back in under 10 years.
With State PV incentives of just $1.25 a watt, Wisconsin residents might feel jealous of Minnesota’s new PV incentives. But the best response would be not to get mad, but to get even. And right now, that means installing solar hot water sytems in the Badger State, understanding that renewable energy’s quickest payback period just got a lot quicker.
by jboullion | Feb 19, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the Center for Climate Strategies:
Implementation of the recently introduced Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) would expand the state’s economy and create thousands of additional new jobs for Wisconsin. These impacts are reported in a recent Center for Climate Strategies (CCS) analysis of the macroeconomic effects of the proposed law, conducted by Michigan State University and the University of Southern California in association with the State of Wisconsin. The analysis focuses on nine proposed policy actions that address clean and renewable energy, energy efficiency, industrial processes, transportation and agriculture.
Based on a state-of-the-art macroeconomic analysis, implementation of these CEJA actions would result in the following outcomes for Wisconsin:
Create a net increase of more than 16,200 new jobs in the state by 2025;
Boost the state’s economy (Gross State Product) by
o $254 million in the near term (2015),
o more than $700 million in 2020,
o $1.41 billion by 2025, and
o $4.9 billion total over the 2011-2025 period.
Reactions to the study: Governor Doyle and CREWE.
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 17, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by UW-Stout:
The University of Wisconsin-Stout, in partnership with Veolia Environmental Services in Eau Claire, is composting all food waste from its two dining halls.
Since Jan. 25, kitchen food waste not served to customers as well as post-consumer food waste in Price Commons and Jeter-Tainter-Callahan dining facilities has been picked up twice a week and transported to Veolia’s composting site at Seven Mile Creek Landfill, east of Eau Claire. Also included is kitchen food waste from the Memorial Student Center.
At the landfill, food waste is dumped and layered with yard waste in long piles, or windrows, and turned periodically so that air and moisture can circulate. As the piles heat up, food and yard waste break down and become nutrient-rich soil.
Veolia will provide UW-Stout with a record of food waste collected. The amount is expected to reach 2 to 2½ tons a week.
“This is just the first step in the university’s composting efforts,” said Ann Thies, director of University Dining. “We have plans for more of the post-consumer food waste to be included in the future. Other post-consumer items are carry-out items and customer waste in our retail dining areas.”
Last fall, the university switched most carry-out containers to compostable packaging and began working on a plan to compost food waste.
by jboullion | Feb 16, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the UW-Madison:
Wide-ranging efforts to nurture a Wisconsin biomass market supplying fuel to the soon-to-be-renovated Charter Street Heating Plant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are under way, as officials begin identifying potential suppliers for the cutting-edge facility.
State and UW-Madison officials are asking interested Wisconsin farmers, businesses and landowners to respond to a simple “request for information” that will help pinpoint likely suppliers of the 250,000 tons of biomass that the plant will consume each year.
“We want to build reliable partnerships, help foster an emerging industry and meet the environmental goals of powering a cleaner, coal-free facility,” says Troy Runge, director of the Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative, a UW-Madison-based coalition that helps Wisconsin create, commercialize and promote bioenergy solutions.
Runge, who chairs a multiagency panel charged with creating a biomass market to serve the plant, says the request was designed to be simple to encourage broad participation. It will be followed in coming months by a request for more detailed information and proposals from potential biomass fuel suppliers and aggregators.
“We want to cast the broadest possible net to eventually develop a network of suppliers who are capable of providing long-term, sustainable and environmentally responsible fuel supplies,” says Runge.
The request seeks information on the type of fuel being offered, location, pricing, capacity, storage and transportation. It can be found at http://www.wbi.wisc.edu/charter-street-biomass-heating-plant.
