by Ed Blume | Sep 26, 2012 | Uncategorized
An article by Brian Duggan in rgj.com. This article raises the question: Who is responsible – the producer, the consumer, or a third party – to ensure that small scale renewable projects are efficient and effective?:
Three years ago, Albert and Dena Sousa spent about $30,000 to install two vertical axis wind turbines at their Spanish Springs home after they were told the technology would cut their power bill in half.
The retired couple from California thought the turbines, produced by former Reno-based company Mariah Power, would generate enough electricity to pay for themselves in five years after a $7,000 rebate from NV Energy.
Today, the Sousas say the turbines have required several repairs, including a mechanical malfunction that’s stopped one turbine from spinning. Meanwhile, the windmills have generated only about 365 kilowatt hours of power over three years — a fraction of the energy they were hoping to generate — meaning there will be no payoff in their lifetimes.
“So, I’m out $23,000, and all they are is a yard decoration,” Albert Sousa said on Wednesday while standing beneath the 30-foot spires next to a backyard chicken coop. “They’re no good at all.”
Advocates of small-scale wind energy production say stories like the Sousas’ experience at their high-desert home highlight the challenge early adopters face when investing in a nascent industry.
That includes sorting through unsubstantiated claims made by some manufacturers of wind turbines meant for backyards or city parks as well as maintaining a realistic set of expectations for the technology.
Read more…
by Ed Blume | Sep 21, 2012 | Uncategorized
From an article
in the New York Times by Diane Cardwell:
Last month, Gamesa, a major maker of wind turbines, completed the
first significant order of its latest innovation: a camper-size box
that can capture the energy of slow winds, potentially opening new
parts of the country to wind power.
But by the time the last of the devices, worth more than $1.25
million, was hitched to a rail car, Gamesa had furloughed 92 of the
115 workers who made them.
“We are all really sad,” said Miguel Orobiyi, 34, who worked as a
mechanical assembler at the Gamesa plant for nearly five years. “I
hope they call us back because they are really, really good jobs.”
Similar cuts are happening throughout the American wind sector,
which includes hundreds of manufacturers, from multinationals that
make giant windmills to smaller local manufacturers that supply
specialty steel or bolts. In recent months, companies have announced
almost 1,700 layoffs.
At its peak in 2008 and 2009, the industry employed about 85,000 people, according to the American Wind Energy Association, the industry’s principal trade group.
About 10,000 of those jobs have disappeared since, according to the association, as wind companies have been buffeted by weak demand for electricity, stiff competition from cheap natural gas and cheaper options from Asian competitors. Chinese manufacturers, who can often underprice goods because of generous state subsidies, have moved into the American market and have become an issue in the larger trade tensions between the countries. In July, the United States Commerce Department imposed tariffs on steel turbine towers from China after finding that manufacturers had been selling them for less than the cost of production.
And now, on top of the business challenges, the industry is facing a big political problem in Washington: the Dec. 31 expiration of a federal tax credit that makes wind power more competitive with other sources of electricity.
The tax break, which costs about $1 billion a year, has been periodically renewed by Congress with support from both parties. This year, however, it has become a wedge issue in the presidential contest. President Obama has traveled to wind-heavy swing states like Iowa to tout his support for the subsidy. Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, has said he opposes the wind credit, and that has galvanized Republicans in Congress against it, perhaps dooming any extension or at least delaying it until after the election despite a last-ditch lobbying effort from proponents this week.
Read
more
by Ed Blume | Sep 19, 2012 | Uncategorized
Learn more about two proposed wind farms in northeast Wisconsin. Ask questions of the development teams. Refreshments!
Beautiful Hill Wind Farm Open House
Tuesday, September 25
4:30-7:30 PM
Fox Hills Resort
250 Church Street
Mishicot, WI 54228
Windy Acres Wind Farm
Thursday, September 27
4:30-7:30 PM
Silver Creek Fire Department
W6566 Wisconsin 144
Random Lake, WI 53075
by Ed Blume | Sep 14, 2012 | Uncategorized
In a presentation by Don Wichert, RENEW executive director, reported on the following RENEW programs at an informational meeting and social gathering in Stevens Point, September 13, 2012:
- Evaluation of utility performance on renewable energy;
- Clean Energy Choice, which would allow third parties to sell heat and power to customers on premise;
- Net metering;
- Focus on Energy;
- Interconnection streamlining;
- Restoration of We Energies’ renewable development fund;
- Wind initiatives.
by Ed Blume | Sep 13, 2012 | Uncategorized
From a blog post by Tom Content on JSOnline:
We Energies and other Wisconsin utilities are getting average grades from a renewable energy advocacy group in ratings released this week.
Renew Wisconsin announced a renewable energy performance report card that judges how utilities have performed on a variety of levels, including the compliance with the state’s renewable energy mandate as well as a variety of other policies.
Most of the utilities in the state, including Milwaukee-based We Energies, received “C” grades from Renew Wisconsin, said Don Wichert, executive director of the non-profit organization that seeks to expand development of solar, wind and other types of renewable energy.
We Energies was praised for its construction of wind farms within the state, creating jobs and providing a local source of green power. But the Milwaukee utility was faulted in part for its decision last year to cancel funding for a renewable energy commitment it gave to Renew 10 years ago.
At that time, We Energies committed to spending $6 million a year for 10 years on a variety of renewable energy programs. In return, the renewable energy advocacy group agreed not to oppose We Energies’ bid to build its coal-fired power plants in Oak Creek.
The shift away from helping customers finance renewable systems is one reason We Energies was graded as a “C” on the group’s report card, said Wichert.
“That’s nothing to shout about,” he said. “We don’t want to be average. There is no reason that Wisconsin utilities should be performing at average levels in clean energy.”
But the Milwaukee utility said it’s spent heavily on development of renewable energy, tallying up nearly $1 billion in investments in its two wind farms as well as the biomass power plant under construction in north-central Wisconsin. As a result, the utility is in position to be in compliance with the state’s renewable mandate through 2018.
