Alliant seeks OK for power plant

A story by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports on Alliant’s plans for a new generation plant:

Madison-based Alliant Energy Corp. has asked state regulators for permission to build a coal-fired power plant in southwestern Wisconsin, reigniting a fight over whether the state’s utilities should be allowed to expand their use of coal.

Buy a link hereAlliant, the parent company of Wisconsin Power & Light Co., estimates that the plant would cost $777 million to build. The 300-megawatt plant - enough to power 150,000 homes - would be located in Cassville, along the Mississippi River in Grant County, and would begin operating in 2012.

Details were disclosed a week after Gov. Jim Doyle announced that he would appoint a task force to recommend ways Wisconsin can reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming. Coal-fired power plants are a key contributor of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

 

Minn. Gov. Pawlenty calls for action

Fresh Energy’s Executive Director Michael Nobel reports on Minnesota policy initiatives in Fresh Energy’s newsletter:

Not content to wait for the Democratically controlled legislature, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced the following “aggressive but attainable” agenda in December 2006:

• an increase in the amount of wind power utilities have to use, with financial penalties for noncompliance
• dramatic increases in community and locally owned energy projects
• annual reductions in fossil fuel use throughout the Minnesota economy, achieving a 15 percent reduction by 2015, and including incentives for utilities to sell less energy
• the requirement for any new utilities that emit global warming pollutants to fully offset those emissions, resulting in no additional pollution
• a five-fold increase in E-85 pumps over four years
• strategic investment in the emerging industry of ethanol from grasses, woody materials, and agricultural wastes

Governor Pawlenty made the compelling case that reducing fossil fuel use means energy security; economic opportunities for leading-edge companies, rural communities, and the Midwest’s competitive position in the world economy; and environmental protection of air, water, and soil. All these would be reason enough to make the changes Pawlenty urges. But the governor also stressed his “grave concerns” with global warming. In news commentary that day, WCCO anchor Don Shelby praised Pawlenty as well as California Governor Schwarzenegger, asking rhetorically, “Isn’t it interesting that the most Earth-friendly governors in America are Republicans?”

 

Xcel Energy moves on carbon and renewables

Xcel Energy which serves portions of northwestern Wisconsin announced plans to expand its renewable energy generation and limit emissions of green house gases, according to a story by Leslie Brooks Suzukamo in the St. Paul Pioneer:

The new Democratic-controlled Congress is expected to pass laws limiting the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. And Dick Kelly, chief executive of Minnesota’s largest electricity producer, says: Bring it on.

The Xcel Energy CEO sees regulation of carbon emissions from his industry’s coal-fired power plants as not just inevitable, but desirable — and he wants to help shape it.

“We’ve got to come up with a plan that’s good for everyone,” he said from his office in downtown Minneapolis. “We’ve all got to figure out what the rules are, and then we’ll go out and do it.”

At the moment, renewable sources like wind and hydroelectric power contribute only 10 percent of Xcel’s power — coal remains the backbone of the industry — but Kelly said he believes that renewable energy sources could generate 20 percent of Xcel’s output someday soon.

 

Madison street car meeting, Dec. 14

This notice is a bit hard to read. You can link to the notice through this Web page.

 

City of Madison Hearing on MG&E Blount St. Plant

From Bruce Nilles of the Sierra Club:

Greetings, fellow clean energy supporters! We have a chance to fix the dirty coal plant in our back yard.

Great news! The City of Madison wants to hear what YOU think about MG&E’s dirty coal-fired power plant in the heart of Madison! Please join us at a hearing sponsored by Madison’s Commission on the Environment to learn more and tell the City that it is time for MG&E to clean up its act!
Monday, December 12, 6:00 pm.
City/County Building
215 Martin Luther King Blvd.
Room 201

 

World’s energy policy is not sustainable - IEA

From a Reuters story:

PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) - The world must change its energy habits or struggle with choking fumes, runaway oil demand and a growing dependence on the volatile Middle East for fuel, the International Energy Agency said on Monday. . . .

“These projected trends have important implications and lead to a future that is not sustainable,” said IEA Executive Director Claude Mandil. “We must change these outcomes and get the planet onto a sustainable energy path.”

 

Groups Sue Wisconsin Public Service

GREEN BAY, WI – Today, Clean Wisconsin and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) for ongoing permit violations at its Pulliam coal-fired power plant. WPS’ own records submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources show that they have been violating the Clean Air Act an average of two or more times a day for years. WPS officials admitted to reporters in July that the company has been violating the law.