Energy Efficiency
Communities can reach 25×25
From a news release issued by Governor Jim Doyle on the success of the ten communities in Energy Independent (EI) Pilot — Brown County; Chequamegon Bay (including the cities of Ashland, Bayfield and Washburn, the towns of Bayfield and La Pointe, the counties of Ashland and Bayfield, the Red Cliff tribe and the Bay Area Regional Transit authority); Columbus; Evansville; Fairfield; Marshfield; Oconomowoc; Osceola, including the school district; Platteville and Lancaster; Spring Green, including the school district:
MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle today announced ten Energy Independent (EI) Pilot Communities are well on their way toward achieving “25 x 25” – getting 25 percent of their electricity and 25 percent of their transportation fuels from renewable sources by 2025.
“Through the EI Pilot program communities have found ways to reduce their overall 2025 fossil fuel-based energy consumption by 30 percent,” said Governor Doyle. “This is significant considering we spend $16 billion on fossil fuel energy every year in Wisconsin, and all those dollars go outside of our state. We are finding ways to reduce our dependence
and generate jobs in Wisconsin.”
Two independent reports released by the Office of Energy Independence revealed how the ten EI Pilot Communities were able to accomplish 98 percent of their collective 25 x 25 goal.
The communities reduced their overall 2025 fossil fuel-based energy consumption by 30 percent and reduced their 2025 carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent.
The information gathered by the EI Pilot Communities will assist Wisconsin local units of government including the 140 EI Communities to decide which strategies will work best with their unique assets and capitalize on the diversity of their resources.
The reports were conducted by two non-partisan research and policy organizations: the Local Government Institute and the Energy Center of Wisconsin.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Homes waste watts of power, study finds
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
TVs, computers, others leach energy and money
In one of the first studies of its kind, energy researchers in Madison have uncovered a simple way that most consumers can save on their electric bills: pull the plug.
The researchers set up more than 700 in-home metering devices in about 50 homes to monitor the proliferation of electronic devices in our homes, and how they affect our energy use.
Thirty years ago, federal data shows, a typical home had about three plugged-in devices. The new study shows our wall sockets are jammed, with each home hosting 30 or more devices. All told, computers, printers, televisions and other devices account for 15% to 30% of a home’s total electricity use – about 20% on average, the study found.
The Energy Center of Wisconsin study was able to quantify the impact of having so many devices plugged in and ready to go – sometimes on, sometimes off, and sometimes in standby mode.
Case in point: Home computers that are left on around the clock in some cases suck power even when they’re sitting idle.
“Most computers are set up to turn the monitor off after about 20 minutes,” said researcher Scott Pigg. “So we turn it on and use it and walk away and come back into the room and see the monitor’s off. We think: ‘Well, my computer is managing its power and it’s shut down.’
“What they don’t realize is that two-thirds of the electricity draw is the thing that’s sitting on the floor – not the thing that’s sitting on the desk,” he added. “And the only visual indication that you have that computer’s on is a little fan noise and a little green light somewhere.”
A step as simple as changing the power management settings on a home PC will take less time than running to the store and buying another energy-saving light bulb, Pigg said.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Wisconsin 5th most dependent state on imported coal
From a news release issued by Clean Wisconsin:
State Spends $853 Million Every Year on Imported Coal
MADISON — Wisconsin is the fifth most dependent state on imported coal, spending $853 million to import the fuel in 2008, according to a national report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
“Despite having no in-state coal supplies, Wisconsin relies on coal for nearly two-thirds of the electricity it produces,” reads Burning Coal, Burning Cash, a report released today by UCS that ranks the states that import the most coal. “Compared with other states, Wisconsin is the fifth most dependent on net imports as a share of total power use.”
In 2008, Wisconsin spent $152 for every man, woman and child importing coal from nine different states. According to the report, the state spent $25 million on coal from Montana, $94 million on Colorado coal, and over $700 million on coal from Wyoming.
“Relying on coal in a non-coal-mining state is a costly and dangerous addiction,” said Ryan Schryver, clean energy advocate at Clean Wisconsin. “We not only pay $152 for every man, woman and child to import coal into the state every year, we also pay the high price of coal polluting our waters, diminishing the quality of our air, and threatening our health.”
Beyond showing the high costs of imported coal, the report also highlights solutions that will help Wisconsin reduce its heavy dependence on the fossil fuel. “Investing in energy efficiency is one of the quickest and most affordable ways to replace coal-fired power while boosting the local economy,” it reads. It later continues, “The state has the technical potential to generate 4.2 times its 2008 electricity needs from renewable energy.”
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )A Cruel Month for Renewable Energy
From a commentary by Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin’s executive director:
Renewable energy businesses and activists entered the month of April with high hopes of seeing the State Legislature pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA), a comprehensive bill designed to propel Wisconsin toward energy independence, along the way creating thousands of new jobs and strengthening the sustainable energy marketplace. This comprehensive bill would have raised the renewable energy content of electricity sold in Wisconsin, while stepping up ratepayer support for smaller-scale renewable energy installations throughout the state.
Unfortunately, on April 22, the State Senate adjourned for the year without taking action on the Clean Energy Jobs Act bill, effectively killing the measure and leaving hundreds of businesses and individuals who campaigned for the bill empty-handed.
If life imitates poetry, then the line that opens T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land—“April is the cruelest month”—aptly encapsulates the evolution of a campaign that overcame many obstacles in the final weeks only to be undermined by the unwillingness of Senate leaders to schedule a vote on the bill. The sense of anticipation that began the month was swept away by a combination of personal feuds, extreme partisanship, and increasingly polarized public attitudes toward climate change. That the bill’s demise coincided with the 40th anniversary of Earth Day was seen by supporters as an especially cruel twist of fate.
It certainly didn’t help matters that the some of the state’s most politically entrenched constituencies banded together to fight CEJA at every stage of the process. Among the hard-core opponents were Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the Paper Council and the Farm Bureau. Their vociferous opposition scuttled bipartisanship, eliminating the possibility that a Republican legislator would vote for the bill.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Failure to pass a clean energy bill doesn’t deter energy efficiency supporters
From a story by Chuck Quirmbach on Wisconsin Public Radio:
Energy efficiency advocates are trying to keep the energy savings momentum going in Wisconsin, despite the legislature’s failure to pass a major clean energy bill.
The Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) would have counted some energy efficiency moves toward a mandate to make more use of renewable energy. But leaders of the state Senate killed the measure. Five years ago, lawmakers did pass a bill that transferred oversight of the rate-payer funded Focus On Energy program to the Public Service Commission. The PSC’s Jolene Shield says her agency is continuing a planning process to revise goals and priorities for energy efficiency. Shield says phase two of the process means digging into the details.
Shield says PSC commissioners will be deciding how much energy savings should come from households and how much from businesses, and try to judge the impact energy prices will have. Then the PSC will look at whether to go to the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee for additional money to spur access to efficient technology.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Coalition applauds Assembly committee vote on Clean Energy Jobs Act
From a news release issued by Advocates for Renewable Energy:
For Immediate Release
April 16, 2010
For More Information Contact:
Monte Lamer: (715) 486-6110
Michael Hastings: (888) 571-9931
Encourages Swift Passage in Senate Committee
The over 50 renewable energy businesses and organizations of Advocates for Renewable Energy [including RENEW Wisconsin] applaud the Assembly Committee on Clean Energy Jobs, which passed the Clean Energy Jobs Act by a wide margin yesterday.
“The Clean Energy Jobs Act provides the means to significantly improve our state’s position on energy sources,” said Monte Lamer of Business Biomass Solution in Middleton, whose company’s mission is to reduce and stabilize long term energy operating costs for its customers by utilizing low value feedstocks such as biomass or organic residuals.
“Increased funding for renewable energy and strong goals for smallscale distributed renewable energy projects will encourage Wisconsin farmers, homeowners, and businesses to invest in renewable energy systems, and provide a hedge against energy costs. The bill will also give life to many stalled renewable energy projects in the state.”
The vote comes the day after over 40 businesses circulated the capitol urging legislators to vote for the bill.
With the potential to create over 15,000 jobs, according to an independent study of the bill, businesses see ample opportunity for growth and development due to these policies.
A study released by the Public Service Commission yesterday confirms that the bill will reduce electricity rates. The encouraging approval by the Assembly committee today is a clear indication that the bill remains strong and is poised to move through the Assembly and Senate.
“The most exciting part of the bill to our company is the ten percent in-state component to the renewable portfolio standard,” stated Michael Hastings of Half Moon Power in Milwaukee, a company which develops wind energy. “As we have seen from neighboring states such as Michigan, this policy will bring capital investment and jobs.
The Clean Energy Jobs Act will send a signal to renewable energy businesses that Wisconsin wants to become competitive in clean energy industries.”
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Study: Amended Clean Energy Jobs Act even better for state
From a news release issued by the Advocates for Renewable Energy, a coalition of organizations, including RENEW Wisconsin:
Act Will Save Wisconsin Utility Customers at Least $1.2 Billion
The Public Service Commission (PSC) released a study today finding that the Clean Energy Jobs Act substitute amendment will save Wisconsin electricity customers at least $1.2 billion over the next 15 years, and could save Wisconsin electricity customers up to $6.4 billion over that period, compared to the business as usual approach. The study is based on the energy cost savings of provisions included in the Clean Energy Jobs Act substitute amendment released on Wednesday.
“The PSC study confirms that the Clean Energy Jobs Act will save Wisconsin residents and businesses money,” said Vicky Lipinski of Procorp Enterprises, a water and wastewater treatment solution company in Milwaukee. “Sustainable energy solutions reduce costs for businesses and allow them to be more competitive and create jobs.”
The study finds that average customer electricity bills will be lower in 2015 and 2020 under all scenarios with the Clean Energy Jobs Act compared to the business as usual approach. These savings will be realized by customers even without any federal carbon regulation. When modest federal carbon regulation is assumed, the cost savings of the Clean Energy Jobs Act are even greater.
“Our continued reliance on fossil fuel generation provides great uncertainty in the energy market, as costs of coal and natural gas are highly variable and unpredictable,” said Shaina Kilcoyne of the coalition Advocates for Renewable Energy. “As the PSC study demonstrates, renewable energy provides stability and predictability, as well as cost savings for residents and businesses.”
The study is further proof that the cost concerns alleged by opponents of the bill are without merit. The Clean Energy Jobs Act will reduce energy costs, create jobs, and improve our economy.
“The Clean Energy Jobs Act will move our state forward and establish a stronger, healthier, more sustainable Wisconsin economy,” said Kilcoyne.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Groups urge passage of new version of Clean Energy Jobs Act legislation
Diverse groups lined up to support passage of the rewritten version of Clean Energy Jobs Act legislation when the new provisions were announced on Tuesday. Group already releasing statements of support include:
+ RENEW Wisconsin
+ Clean Wisconsin
+ AFL-CIO
+ Wisconsin Business Council
+ Clean, Responsible Energy for Wisconsin’s Economy (CREWE)
+ Wisconsin Environment
+ WPPI Energy.
According to the bill’s co-authors the highlights of the bill include:
+ Increases the use of renewable resources to meet the state’s future energy needs, requiring 25 percent of Wisconsin’s energy needs are met by renewable sources by 2025, creates new opportunities for Wisconsin.
+ Establishes graduated statewide electricity savings goals that lead up to a 2 percent reduction by 2015 and annual reductions of 2 percent thereafter, this will help reduce energy costs to businesses and homes across the state.
+ Large conservation and efficiency projects that meet workforce standards could count toward a portion of the RPS, which accelerates savings and provides options for utilities to create jobs.
+ Supports the development of small scale renewables such as solar, wind and manure digesters through expanded Focus on Energy grants and loans that will now total $25 million per year each year for a four year period. This will allow Wisconsin Companies to grow their business and create more jobs.
+ Modifies, but not repeal, Wisconsin’s moratorium on nuclear power plants. The language has been tightened to remove the threat of constitutional challenge by tying those changes to the state’s traditional regulatory authority over the need and siting of any plant.
+ Adjusts several transportation provisions, including the elimination of the California vehicle emissions standard; the proposed low carbon fuel standard tied to decisions in other states; and boiler efficiency standards that could cause conflict with EPA regulations.
The co-authors also asked the Public Service Commission to update its cost analysis of the legislation, taking into account the changes made in the substitute amendment.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Wisconsin’s scaled-back global warming bill unveiled
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
A revised state clean energy and global warming bill unveiled Tuesday scales back the scope of the bill but retains a commitment to expand use of renewable energy and open the door to construction of nuclear reactors in Wisconsin.
The revisions, obtained by the Journal Sentinel, were drafted in response to concerns raised by business groups and politicians that the original bill was too unwieldy, too controversial and potentially too costly.
Jettisoned from the package were mandates concerning transportation fuels, including a requirement that Wisconsin require greater use of low-carbon transportation fuels such as biofuels.
To reduce the overall cost of the package, the bill allows energy efficiency gains to count toward a portion of a mandate that 25% of Wisconsin’s electricity come from renewable power sources by 2025.
A combined energy efficiency and renewable energy standard is also part of federal legislation that passed in the U.S. House of Representatives last year.
The state bill would allow one-fifth of the mandate to come through energy savings, most likely from major energy saving initiatives by factories and other big energy users.
Another change responds to concerns raised by utilities concerning a mandate that had been in the earlier bill concerning small renewable energy projects around the state. The mandate has been replaced with expanded funding for small renewable energy projects. The new proposal states a preference that much of that money be allocated toward manure digesters on Wisconsin dairy farms.
The latest version also underscores the consequences of the weak economy and declining sentiment for taking action on global warming.
Doyle signed an executive order creating the task force in April 2007 – well before the collapse in the economy. In December 2009, after details were known, many business groups attacked it and said the recommendations would harm the energy-intensive manufacturing sector.
But some other industries and companies, notably Johnson Controls, the state’s largest public company, said the bill would create jobs and align the state to take advantage of emerging trends in sustainability.
At the same time, the public appears less concerned about climate change. A national Gallup Poll in March showed that the percentage of respondents who believe the seriousness of global warming is “generally exaggerated” has increased from 35% to 48% in two years.
“As introduced, the Clean Energy Jobs Act would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs, and help keep rising energy bills in check,” said Keith Reopelle, senior policy director at the environmental group Clean Wisconsin, said in a statement. “The substitute amendment represents a compromise that will still accomplish all of these goals, but to a lesser degree than the original bill.”
Clean Wisconsin is still reviewing the details of the changes.
“As we understand them, the changes in the substitute amendment will result in even more jobs and lower energy bills in the next few years by increasing short-term commitments to energy efficiency,” Reopelle said. “However, paring back the renewable energy standard will likely result in less rate relief in the long term, because renewable energy helps hedge against the rising cost of fossil fuels.”
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )RENEW treasurer asks Sen. Schultz to support Clean Energy Jobs Act
From a letter to State Senator Dale Schultz from Shelly Laffin, RENEW Wisconsin’s treasurer, who lives in Spring Green:
Dear Senator Schultz,
I recently learned from the Spring Green Home News that you do not support any provisions of the Clean Energy Jobs Act. Your district is distinctly suited to benefit from two parts of the Act in particular.
There are wind projects in Lafayette, Grant and Iowa counties that will be built if the Renewable Portfolio Standard is increased, especially with a mandated percentage of the energy projects to be built in Wisconsin. Wind projects in those counties not only will supply clean energy and jobs, but local towns and counties will receive annual payments. I am sure you know that the local economies in those areas are depressed and would materially benefit. Wind projects are good neighbors, which I’m also sure you are aware of, based on the ten year operating history of the Montfort Wind Farm in Iowa County.
Another critical provision in the Act is the Advanced Renewable Tariff component. While I see that you support tax credits for food processing plant modernization, you perhaps have not made the linkage to food processing waste and energy generation that many cheese plants would like to incorporate in their operations. Several cheese companies are considering anaerobic digestion for their plants (in your district), but cannot make the financial aspects work without an advanced renewable tariff as a standard offer. Grants are fine, but they work best to support technologies in initial stages of market development, rather than as a permanent feature to sustain a market. Preliminary analysis has been done on the cost of advanced renewable tariffs that could be offered by investor owned Wisconsin utilities (www.renewwisconsin.org). In offering approximately 11 cents per kilowatt hour, at a fully subscribed level of 1.5% of customer retail sales, the cost for a typical Wisconsin residential customer (~usage at 10,000 kilowatt hours per year) would average an extra 83 cents a month ($10.00 per year). The analysis uses the marginal amount that would be added to each investor owned utility’s current avoided cost. As the avoided cost rate continually increases over time, this marginal amount diminishes or disappears.
When I look at the Wisconsin State Capitol, the county courthouse in Lancaster and other early government projects, the investment in better building, better craftsmanship and better materials has stood the test of time. It is pitiful that we now exhibit such lack of vision that we cannot enthusiastically invest in Wisconsin’s future as our ancestors did. The two items I mentioned translate into local development, local jobs and local industry (ala Cuba City’s Wausaukee Composites – wind nacelle housings).
Wisconsin is currently the national leader in dairy farm digesters. The opportunity that comes from being a focal point in the country for anaerobic digestion technology will slip away, and has already begun to slip (federal digester funding targeted to New York state), without taking the next step – advanced renewable tariffs. The Focus on Energy Program has a very limited budget for renewables in general and this technology in particular. With a granting program, choices of winners and losers tend to be based on the program and state agency priorities, not necessarily the customer’s needs. DATCP does not have a RD&D budget to move farm digesters from being a large farm option to a viable mid-size farm option. Farms, in cooperation with investors, coops and using other business models could make the move themselves, with the assurance of an advanced renewable tariff. Wisconsin has already attracted the attention of German companies who would like to make investments in Wisconsin digester projects. And finally, Wisconsin is home to the company that has, by far, the most farm digester installations in the U.S. – GHD, Inc. in Chilton, Wisconsin. We would be crazy to forgo such a unique opportunity to support our agricultural community. I truly wish you could see it that way.
Another critical opportunity for Wisconsin is the promising mid-size wind industry. Several companies in eastern Wisconsin are obtaining UL listing for their equipment and are attracting investors to finance the building of small and mid-sized wind turbines in Wisconsin. Their chances of success improve greatly if there are buyback rates in Wisconsin to sustain consistent sales of wind equipment. Without the tariffs, Wisconsin is defaulting to wind turbines built in China. The industrial infrastructure is still in place that would make these companies viable, but the support of advanced renewable tariffs for small systems is critical.
The advanced renewable tariffs reward only equipment and projects that actually produce energy. As a contrast, grants are paid for projects whether they subsequently produce energy at the level promised, or do not. Higher buyback rates and tariffs do not pick and choose winners in the marketplace. They reward energy production – period. I fail to see why you would not support the advanced renewable tariff provision of the Clean Energy Jobs Act. The Wisconsin Distributed Resources Collaborative, with most of Wisconsin’s utilities as members, (www.wisconsindr.org) has investigated many options and administrative structures for advanced renewable tariffs over a range of cost recovery methods for utilities. Alliant Energy modeled its advanced renewable tariff offering (fully subscribed in less than a year) on tariff work done by the Wisconsin Distributed Resources Collaborative. By limiting tariff subscription levels and capping eligible project sizes, utilities and utility customers are protected from unmanageable financial impacts.
Wisconsin did not deregulate its retail electric utilities as did some other states in the 1990’s. Customer-based renewable electric projects are therefore restricted to selling energy to retail electric providers, at prices largely based on energy production from fully amortized coal plants. A variety of renewable energy businesses are in your district and will be able to thrive at a modest and controlled cost to utility customers. Small renewable companies in your district, such as Timmerman’s Talents, Platteville (solar and wind), point to the future growth and vigor that will be possible with support for renewable energy through an advanced tariff. There is no other energy policy on the horizon that would have more benefit for small growing renewable businesses.
I hope that you will reconsider y our current position and support these two Clean Energy Jobs Act provisions.
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