by jboullion | Sep 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2009
MORE INFORMATION
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
In a show of bipartisan support, the State Senate approved legislation that will open the door to new wind energy projects in Wisconsin.
Under the Wind for Wisconsin umbrella, more than 60 organizations as diverse as unions, trade associations, environmental advocates, health groups, and renewable energy manufacturers sought uniform permitting standards for future wind developments.
Six Republicans joined 17 Democrats to pass Senate Bill 185. The legislation directs the Public Service Commission to begin a rulemaking process that will lead to greater certainty and predictability in siting wind generation facilities.
“The Senate’s vote is critical to reviving the development of a high priority renewable energy resource in accordance with Wisconsin energy policy,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a nonprofit sustainable energy advocacy organization.
“We believe that the wind energy suppliers will see the action as an invitation to locate and do business in Wisconsin. Our economy will benefit from the investment and jobs in a sustainable energy future,” Vickerman said.
“RENEW Wisconsin and its members thank the bill’s primary authors, Senator Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) and Senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac), the leadership of both parties, and all of the state senators who recognized the need for a statewide approach to permitting windpower installations,” Vickerman added .
The Assembly will vote on the companion bill later this week. Then it will go to the governor.
END
RENEW Wisconsin (www.renewwisconsin.org) is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives.
by jboullion | Sep 15, 2009 | Uncategorized
Senate Bill 185 comes to the full Senate for a vote today. Two organizations issues news releases to express support for the bill:
CREWE Urges Bi-Partisan Support for Wind Siting Bill
(MADISON, Wis.)—Clean, Responsible Energy for Wisconsin’s Economy (CREWE) today urged state lawmakers to support the proposed uniform wind siting legislation as it heads to the Senate floor on Tuesday. Senate Bill 185/Assembly Bill 256 would create jobs and help Wisconsin meet its renewable energy requirements by having the Public Service Commission (PSC) set standards for large and small wind energy systems across the state.
“We can establish a green economy and add needed jobs to the state with the passing of SB 185/ AB 256, in which CREWE has taken an active role this year,” Thad Nation, executive director of CREWE, said. “I’m sure both Democrats and Republicans can agree that this bill will benefit Wisconsin’s ratepayers, taxpayers and environment.”
Currently, more than 600 megawatts of planned wind developments are stalled across Wisconsin due to midstream changes in regulations and procedures. A consistent and uniform siting policy will allow Wisconsin to take advantage of wind development and growth, Nation added.
From the news release issued by Clean Wisconsin:
MADISON — The Senate will vote on a piece of legislation Tuesday that will create new jobs, generate new investments in our state’s economy and encourage new renewable energy businesses to locate in Wisconsin.
Senate Bill 185, or wind siting legislation, will bring family-supporting jobs to the state while replacing the patchwork of local regulations with sensible statewide standards for permitting wind farms.
At the same time, Democratic representatives of the Assembly will hold a press conference Tuesday at 10:30 to share their job creation agenda for Wisconsin; wind siting plays a crucial role in their plan. The Assembly votes on the bill Wednesday.
In early August, the bill passed the Senate Committee on Commerce, Energy, Utilities and Rail 6-1. In June, it passed the Assembly Committee on Energy and Utilities 10-2.
“This legislation will create jobs, generate clean energy and put us on the path to energy independence,” says Ryan Schryver, clean energy advocate for Clean Wisconsin, the state’s largest environmental advocacy organization. “Wisconsin has lost a record number of jobs in recent months, and this legislation is a needed
mechanism to re-create some of the jobs the state has lost.”
by jboullion | Sep 11, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Mike Moore in the Stevens Point Journal:
RAYMOND — Car executives looking for the next electric car might just want to slip out of the board room and stop by Tom Leitschuh’s garage.
This year, Leitschuh converted his 1981 Chevrolet El Camino to run completely on electric power. And because the juice is created by the windmill and solar panels at his home on Highway K, he’s not paying for it.
“I get to drive for free,” he said. “I have energy independence even on the road now.”
Compared to the El Camino, the Toyota Prius sitting in his driveway with the “renewable energy is sexy” bumper sticker is a gas hog. Where El Camino’s engine once sat, 26 batteries now fill the space. Twenty more sit by a rear axle.
It’s a load, but removing the radiator, gas tank, muffler and other unnecessary baggage helped offset the weight. Leitschuh also skipped the regular car batteries and splurged on lighter lithium ferrite batteries.
“They’re the safest batteries in the world, and they’ll work down to zero degrees,” he said.
A charge could take him 200 miles if he manages his driving carefully, Leitschuh said, but typically the car has a range of about half that.
The project took about six weeks. Including the car, which he bought used on eBay, the project cost him about $30,000. He could have done a scaled-back conversion for $10,000, which he said should be feasible for some car owners. Not to mention big car companies, which are still developing plug-in models they plan to introduce over the next few years.
“I’m wondering, ‘Why aren’t they doing this?'” Leitschuh said. “If a guy in a garage in Racine can do this with a little bit of help … .”
by jboullion | Sep 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Chad Dally in The Daily Press (Ashland):
Similar projects underway at Madeline Island, Mt. Ashwabay
The Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland will soon embark on a project testing the feasibility of supplying a portion of its energy from wind power, joining other area projects seeking to take advantage of a consistent alternative energy resource.
This fall, the center will lease a 150-foot “met,” or test, tower leased from the Bad River Tribe of Lake Superior Chippewa and site it along the northern edge of the center’s property to get a more detailed idea of wind power capability. Statewide energy audits have assessed wind power in Cornucopia and Hurley, but those assessments are likely different than averages at the Visitor Center, and on Madeline Island and Mt. Ashwabay in Bayfield, two other areas currently being analyzed for wind power.
A preliminary assessment, completed in 2007 by Focus on Energy, showed wind speeds at the center between 10.2 and 11.7 miles per hour — speeds not capable of sustaining a wind farm-scale development, but that could supplement some of the natural gas used to power the center. . . .
Mad(eline) about wind
Although nine months of data from a test wind tower on Madeline Island has revealed promising potential, organizers behind that effort will face logistical challenges if the island residents’ effort toward energy independence comes to fruition.
Burke Henry, chairman of the island’s ad hoc Alternative Energy Committee, said Wednesday that, based on data gathered from the 50-meter (164-foot) tower erected at Big Bay State Park, it appears there would be enough wind to supply the island with all of its energy needs — although Henry stressed there remain many unanswered questions, with funding chief among them. Along with the tower, SODAR (SOnic Detection and Ranging) equipment is being used to send signals up to 200 meters in the air to further assess wind speed.
by jboullion | Sep 8, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by John Nichols in The Capital Times:
Wisconsin officials have seemed for too long to be at war with this state’s rich industrial legacy.
It is as if they live in a fantasy world that imagines this Great Lakes state will somehow become the next Silicon Valley.
But when state officials make policies that aim in the direction of fantasy-island developments rather than taking necessary steps to retain existing industrial jobs and to attract news ones, they undermine Wisconsin’s future.
That is what Department of Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi and his aides appear to be doing with their scheming to redevelop the Hoan Bridge/794 corridor in a manner that would decimate roughly two-thirds of the port of Milwaukee.
The port, still one of the largest and most well-situated on the Great Lakes, provides crucial support to our manufacturing base – not only in Milwaukee but all of southeastern Wisconsin, which remains one of the nation’s great centers for small and medium-sized factories.
But the port could be seriously undermined as a support for Wisconsin’s manufacturing sector if Busalacchi and the Doyle administration get their way.
According to documents obtained through an open records request initiated by Milwaukee County Supervisor Patricia Jursik, Busalacchi’s DOT has commissioned – at a cost of $225,000 – a study by the HNTB planning group of strategies for the demolition of the Hoan Bridge and the development of a condo and entertainment complex.
The port will be critical as Wisconsin develops manufacturing capabilities to supply the wind industry.
