Coal Critic Coming to Madison to Speak on Effective Renewable Energy Advocacy, January 2012
For immediate release
December 7, 2011
More information
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
Leslie Glustrom, research director of Colorado-based Clean Energy Action, and an unwavering critic of utility reliance on coal for electricity generation, will be the featured speaker at RENEW Wisconsin’s Energy Policy Summit.
The Summit will be held on Friday, January 13, 2012, at the University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Pyle Center located on the UW-Madison campus. Summit attendees will spend the day discussing and selecting renewable energy strategies that make sense in the current political environment in Wisconsin. More information on the Summit can be found on the RENEW Wisconsin website at http://www.renewwisconsin.org.
As research director, Glustrom authored in 2009 an extensively referenced report on U.S. coal supplies titled, “Coal—Cheap and Abundant—Or Is It? Why Americans Should Stop Assuming that the US has a 200-Year Supply of Coal,” available for free at http://www.cleanenergyaction.org.
Since 2009, Glustrom has traveled to numerous states helping them to understand the likely constraints on their coal supplies.
Glustrom’s on-going research illuminates a future in which coal prices will likely continue to escalate, driven by a combination of less accessible coal supplies, increasing demand from Asian countries, and rising diesel fuel costs for hauling coal to distant markets like Wisconsin.
Clean Energy Action is spearheading a campaign to shut down Colorado’s coal-fired power plants and replace them with locally generated renewable electricity.
“Leslie’s experiences with Clean Energy Action can help Wisconsin renewable energy advocates formulate effective strategies for 2012 and beyond,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide sustainable energy advocacy organization headquartered in Madison.
“Even though Colorado is a coal-producing state, it has adopted some of the most aggressive policies in the country for advancing renewable energy,” said Vickerman. “Colorado’s commitment to clean energy is driving its economy at a time when its coal output is diminishing. For example, Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines with four plants employing 1,700 people in Colorado, supplied 90 turbines this year to Wisconsin’s largest wind project, the Glacier Hills Wind Park in Columbia County.”
“Leslie will inspire us to reverse the retreat from renewables and retake the initiative going forward,” Vickerman said.
In Boulder, Glustrom was part of the team that led the successful 2010 and 2011 ballot initiatives allowing Boulder to move ahead with plans to municipalize and break away from the long term commitment to coal plants made by their incumbent utility, Xcel Energy.
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Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Rep. Barca: Wind energy holds the key to rapid Wisconsin job growth
A news release issued by State Rep. Peter Barca (D-Kenosha):
Last year Wisconsin made great progress on wind energy and there was bipartisan enthusiasm for advancements in this cutting-edge industry. A wind energy bill was approved last session with a two-thirds majority in both houses – including the leaders of both parties. Organizations such as the Wisconsin Energy Business Association praised Wisconsin’s potential for success in wind energy.
We fully expected the bill would be implemented early this year and Wisconsin would begin catching up with its neighbors. Currently Iowa gets nearly 20 percent of its energy from wind, while Wisconsin generates a mere two percent of its energy supply from this renewable, local source. Minnesota and Illinois each currently produce four times as much. Other states in our region are benefiting from cheap and clean energy, huge private investments, and countless high-tech energy and construction jobs.
Wind energy creates jobs. And Wisconsin needs jobs.
When Gov. Walker took office, it was estimated that Wisconsin’s wind industry contributed between 2,000 and 3,000 direct and indirect jobs. There are 171 wind-power supply chain businesses in Wisconsin. And we are home to more than 20 manufacturing facilities that make components for the wind industry. This represents tens of millions of investment in wind-specific manufacturing infrastructure and equipment.
Inexplicably, Gov. Walker and legislative Republicans have used the rules process to cripple wind energy production in Wisconsin, leading to the cancelation of several major wind projects, which RENEW Wisconsin estimated would have produced a thousand jobs and $1.2 billion in investment.
This will also cause Wisconsin to fall further behind our neighboring states.
Democrats pushed to allow the wind siting rules to go into effect – giving more certainty to developers and allowing major wind energy projects to go forward and would have certainly created hundreds, or possibly thousands, of jobs. But Republicans refused, despite the prior bipartisan agreement last session on this issue. (more…)
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Wind turbine issue turns slowly
From an article by Tom content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
In Columbia County, the biggest wind farm in the state is nearly complete.
Ninety turbines are being erected by Wisconsin contractors including the Boldt Co., Edgerton Contractors and Michels Corp., in a $367 million project. On a typical day this year, about 175 workers have been on the job, pouring foundations, constructing towers and hoisting turbines and blades into place.
The activity comes despite a stalemate on wind turbine siting that wind power supporters say threatens to make the We Energies Glacier Hills Wind Park not only the largest but the last major wind farm to go up in the state.
But wind developers are expressing hope that a logjam can be broken, after recent conversations between the governor and several wind development firms.
Since this year, wind industry representatives say five companies have suspended or canceled work on projects in Wisconsin.
At issue is the Walker administration’s work to address pressure from opponents of wind farms, including the Wisconsin Realtors Association, who say that wind projects are interfering with private property rights of homeowners who live near turbines – and the effects of noise and shadow flicker from the turbines.
Gov. Scott Walker was backed by wind farm opponents in his 2010 election campaign and included a bill to restrict wind farm development in the jobs package he unveiled in his first weeks in office.
But concern about stalling all development and business for Wisconsin firms resulted in pushback against the Walker bill, which ended up being the only piece of legislation that was left to die out of the initial jobs special session.
Criticism of wind turbine siting persists, with state Sen. Frank Lasee, a possible candidate for U.S. Senate, recently unveiling a bill calling for a statewide moratorium on wind turbine construction until more research is done on the health effects of the devices.
“We met with Gov. Walker to discuss how we can work together to allow the economic benefits of wind energy to help boost Wisconsin’s economy,” said Mike Arndt, a Wisconsin native who now is vice president of Element Power, a company developing projects around the country. Arndt was one of the wind industry representatives who met with Walker two weeks ago.
Among Element’s projects is $300 million to $400 million wind farm in Manitowoc and Kewaunee counties.
The Walker administration is now sending signals that it’s seeking middle ground on the wind controversy.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Wind power amendment shot down
From an article by Mike Ivey in The Capital Times:
An effort to push forward with new rules for siting wind towers in Wisconsin has failed.
On a largely party-line 60-30 vote, the Republican-controlled Assembly on Thursday voted down an amendment that would have cleared the way for an expansion of wind generated electricity here.
The rules for siting of wind turbines were approved by the state Public Service Commission under former Gov. Jim Doyle. But implementation of those rules has been suspended under a directive from Gov. Scott Walker.
Walker and others, including Rep. Frank Lasee, R-Ledgeview,have said the rules should be reviewed again, with more consideration given to those living near wind farms. Some residents have complained of noise and visual impacts from wind turbines, which can be up to 300 feet tall.
Rep. Gary Hebl, D-Sun Prairie, had co-sponsored the wind amendment that was attached to a bill that allowed for larger trucks on Wisconsin highways, including trucks that carry equipment for electric transmission lines.
In a statement, Hebl said it was ironic that the wind amendment was shot down just as new figures showed Wisconsin lost more jobs in September.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Solar jobs should grow, but maybe not in Wisconsin
From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The solar sector is expanding nationwide, a new report out Monday found, but a renewable energy advocate warned that Wisconsin could see a pullback in solar projects and growth next year.
“Our report shows that there are over 100,000 solar jobs at over 17,000 employment sites nationwide, and despite an extremely sluggish economy, the solar industry is creating jobs nearly 10 times faster than everyone else,” said Andrea Luecke, executive director of The Solar Foundation in Washington, D.C., and former director of the Milwaukee Shines program.
The solar industry’s job growth has been 6.8% over the past year, at a time when the economy was growing by less than 1%.
The solar jobs census also found that solar employers expect to increase the number of solar workers by 24%, representing nearly 24,000 net new jobs by August 2012. Over the next 12 months, nearly half of solar firms expect to add jobs.
Milwaukee is seeing job growth from solar components manufacturing – including the panel factory Helios USA, which opened this year, and the Ingeteam factory that will soon being producing solar inverters.
But the picture for installations isn’t as bright for next year in Wisconsin, despite incentive programs launched in Milwaukee and Madison. There is a flurry of activity this year, but 2012 activity could “fall off the cliff,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of Renew Wisconsin.
Setbacks for solar projects include the suspension of funding incentives for nonresidential solar by the Focus on Energy program, as well as the cancellation of a program by We Energies that provided incentives for renewable projects.
“There are still a few projects in the pipeline and the second half of this year will be a good one for the industry and installation contractors – as long as they don’t pay any attention to the cliff, the abyss, that’s in store for them this January,” Vickerman said.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Unique two-bladed turbine makes Wisconsin debut
July 28, 2011
More information
Randy Faller – rfaller@wi.rr.com
Maureen Faller – maureen.fallergmail.com
Kettle View Renewable Energy
920.994.9433
Wind turbines come with three blades, right? Not the unique Scottish-built Gaia turbine installed near Neenah by Kettle View Renewable Energy, LLC, of Random Lake.
“You might do a double-take when you first see it,” admits Randy Faller, owner of Kettle View.
The electricity production from the first two-blader installed in Wisconsin and fourth in the United States has been “incredible,” according to Faller, “even during last June, when winds were really light.” And it’s quieter than other small turbines.
At wind speeds between 9 and 14 miles per hour, the 11-kilowatt Gaia in the Town of Clayton, Winnebago County, will out perform a turbine rated at 20 kilowatts. With a little more fine-tuning, Faller expects even better production. “It’s only been up a month and a half,” Faller said.
“No single turbine on the market fills every need at every site. Every brand of turbines has advantages and disadvantages. The Gaia (pronounced GUY-ah) works well in locations with lower wind speeds,” commented Faller, “like we have at many Wisconsin locations.”
Part of the Gaia’s generating power comes from longer blades than those on a three-bladed turbine. With a rotor diameter of 42.6 feet, the two-bladed Gaia can capture up to 80% more energy, according to the U.S. distributors Web site (www.tacoelectronics.com).
“Hundreds of Gaia turbines have been installed throughout Europe since the turbine was first developed in Denmark in the 1990s,” explained Faller.
Equipped with a durable gearbox, well-built mechanics, and streamlined design, Faller expects the Gaia to perform reliably during Wisconsin’s winters.
However, Wisconsin’s future for wind energy doesn’t look bright for Gaia or any other turbine, according to Faller, who calls the current situation “scary.”
The Legislature suspended statewide standards for permitting wind energy systems. “The small wind section of those standards was a great thing. Towns and counties could use it as a guide. Now everything’s open to interpretation when a landowner applies for a permit,” Faller said.
He also expects his business to be hurt by budget cuts imposed by the Legislature on Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s ratepayer-funded energy efficiency and renewable programs. Individual utility support for customer-sited renewable systems has also been cut back.
“My wife and I built the business to the point where we employ three other full-time employees, one part-timer, and occasionally subcontract some work. If we don’t have work in Wisconsin, we’ll go out of state. But why should I have to leave my own state to work?”
Prior to starting Kettle View in 2006, Faller “got tired of sitting behind a desk. It’s exciting,” he says, “to make our own power right in your own backyard.”
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )State honors Michels Corp., contractor for wind project construction
While shutting down Wisconsin’s wind industry, the State of Wisconsin honored Michels Corp. for adding new jobs, such as the jobs created by Michels’ work on wind generation facilities. From an article in the Fond du Lac Reporter:
BROWNSVILLE — Michels Corp. in Brownsville was lauded for its job growth Tuesday morning.
Scott Baumbach, secretary of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, visited the family-owned and operated construction company, according to a press release. He praised Michels for its longstanding apprenticeship training and success.
Michels Corp. has trained more than 150 apprentices since 1996, providing opportunities for construction electricians, operating engineers, cement masons, construction craft laborers and ironworkers.
“Over the past five decades, Michels has grown from a gas pipeline construction company to a major corporation employing over 4,000 workers nationwide,” Baumbach said in a statement. “Michels has created jobs, including many apprenticeship opportunities, and we want to help Michels and other employers expand and create more jobs.”
Michels Vice President Tim Michels told The Reporter that the company added about 1,000 jobs over the past year. A lot of small projects have added up, he said. . . .
Michels is also one of three state contractors hired by We Energies to build the Glacier Hills Wind Park in Columbia County. Glacier Hills will have 90 wind turbines, making it Wisconsin’s largest wind farm.
Michels said Baumbach’s visit was part of Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to recognize employers who’ve created jobs.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Wisconsin turns inhospitable to green businesses
From an article by Nathan J. Comp in The Isthmus:
A new report from the Brookings Institution sizing up the health of the nation’s green economy shows Wisconsin ranks 13th in the number of green jobs, with Madison ranking fifth among cities.
Problem is that many of these jobs will likely disappear as a result of recent policy rollbacks and funding cuts that critics say have already begun to decimate the state’s clean energy infrastructure.
“There is a concerted effort to drive out clean energy jobs,” says state Rep. Brett Hulsey (D-Middleton). “Companies specializing in renewable energy are getting creamed right now.”
Since taking office in January, Gov. Scott Walker’s administration and the GOP-controlled Legislature have, among other things, suspended the wind turbine siting rule, cut millions of dollars from a statewide program that helps bring down costs of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for companies and local governments, and enacted a law allowing utility companies to satisfy renewable energy requirements by importing hydroelectric power from Canada.
A pending bill would allow utilities to bank renewable energy credits in perpetuity, which would effectively extend the 2015 deadline for adding new sources of renewable energy indefinitely.
Walker’s spokesman didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Michael Vickerman of RENEW Wisconsin, a nonprofit devoted to clean energy strategies, says the industry’s mood “varies from contractor to contractor, but it’s pretty grim. We’re the only state to drive out its renewable energy businesses.”
Vickerman says that many companies have contracts that will sustain them through the end of the year, but with funding and policy support drying up, many will be forced to close their doors.
“We’re going to document situations where there are layoffs or where companies relocate to states where their prospects are unchanged,” he says. “Walker should be congratulated by governors of other states for pushing business into their greener pastures.”
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )National Study Vindicates Wisconsin’s Clean Energy Policies
Immediate release
July 18, 2011
More information
Michael Vickerman
Executive Director
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
National Study Vindicates Wisconsin’s Clean Energy Policies
Nearly a decade of forward-looking strategies propelled investments in Wisconsin’s clean jobs economy above other Midwest states, according to an economic study issued by The Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan public policy organization in Washington, D.C.
Reviewing data gathered between 2003 and 2010, the Brookings analysis pegged the number of clean economy jobs in the state at 76,858, a net increase of nearly 4,000. Measured as a percentage, Wisconsin’s clean economy accounted for 2.7% of all jobs in the state, compared with 2.5% for Iowa, 2.1% for Minnesota, 1.9 % for both Indiana and Michigan, and 1.8% for Illinois. Overall, Wisconsin ranked 8th among all states and the District of Columbia in the relative size of its clean economy.
The report categorizes clean economy jobs as those in energy efficiency and renewable energy; sustainable forestry products; recycling and reuse; waste management and treatment; organic food and farming; energy efficient appliance and building manufacturing; and more.
“Clearly, Wisconsin’s commitment to clean energy has paid dividends, attracting new businesses and creating high-paying jobs that could have easily gone elsewhere,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide organization advocating for public policies and private initiatives that advance renewable energy.
These policies and initiatives include the establishment of Focus on Energy, the region’s first ratepayer-funded energy efficiency and renewable energy program, attractive buyback rates offered by utilities for renewable energy, and innovative incentives to encourage customer installation of renewables.
In addition, Wisconsin’s adoption of a 10% renewable energy standard back in 2006 spurred new utility-scale installations built by skilled tradesmen employed by local contractors. During the study period, the number of wind-related jobs in Wisconsin doubled from less than 450 to 900.
As documented in the Brookings report, the wages for these clean economy jobs run higher than the statewide average ($37,931 vs. $35,906).
“Unfortunately, Wisconsin’s clean economy is in danger of losing a good deal of its steam as a result of policy rollbacks and funding cutbacks in the renewable energy arena,” Vickerman said. “The short-sighted attacks we’ve seen in 2011 could throw the state’s clean economy into reverse next year.”
So far this year, the Legislature has reduced funding for Focus on Energy, suspended the statewide rule regulating the permitting of wind turbines, and weakened the state’s renewable energy standard by allowing utilities to count Canadian hydropower toward their requirements.
“On top of that, We Energies, the state’s largest utility, announced that it will discontinue what had been an effective renewable energy initiative,” Vickerman said. “Among other accomplishments, it was instrumental in enabling Helios USA to build a solar-electric manufacturing facility in Milwaukee’s Menomonee River Valley.” The plant now employs 50 workers.
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RENEW Wisconsin 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. More information on RENEW’s Web site at http://www.renewwisconsin.org.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Wind farm plan gets green light — in Illinois
While Wisconsin’s hostility toward wind generation kills projects in the state, wind generation projects continue to create jobs and energy independence in surrounding states, according to this article in The News Gazzette, Champaign, IL:
DANVILLE — The Vermilion County Board authorized construction of the first wind turbine farm in the county Tuesday night despite objections from several local residents and incomplete information in the developer’s application.
The 27-member board voted 21-1, with four members absent and one seat vacant, to grant Chicago-based Invenergy a building permit to construct 104 wind turbines in west central Vermilion County.
Invenergy also submitted on July 1 its application to the Champaign County zoning board for a special-use permit to build 30 wind turbines as part of the same project in east central Champaign County. Invenergy officials said they hope construction in Vermilion County can start by the end of the year.
The lone no vote at Tuesday’s Vermilion County Board meeting came from member Terry Stal, D-District 4, who said after the meeting that he voted that way because the county should have all its agreements with Invenergy in place before the permit is issued. He said his vote reflected a procedural objection.
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