Renewable energy financing workshops set, April 18 & April 25

Thursday, April 10, 2008

From the Office of Energy Independence:

MADISON – The Wisconsin Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the Office of Energy Independence will host two free renewable energy financing workshops for industry businesses and researchers. The workshops will provide information about the new Wisconsin Energy Independence Fund (WEIF), a renewable energy loan and grant program administered by Commerce, as well as other available renewable energy resources.

“I am pleased that Commerce is able to offer these free workshops as another step toward Wisconsin’s energy independence,” said Commerce Secretary Jack L. Fischer, AIA. “Governor Doyle’s Clean Energy Wisconsin plan calls for $15 million annually in grants and loans for research and development, commercialization or adoption of new technologies, and supply chain development.”

Information about how to apply for the WEIF program, eligibility, and program requirements will be explained at the meeting.

The workshops will be held in:

Madison: Friday, April 18 from 9 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Commerce, 201 W. Washington Avenue.

Stevens Point: Friday, April 25, 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., UW-Stevens Point, Legacy Room, Dreyfus University Center, 1015 Reserve Street.

The application period for the first round of funding will run from April 1 to June 2, 2008. For application materials and more information about the program and a program fact sheet, visit the Department of Commerce.

The Office of Energy Independence (OEI) has additional information on other state programs, federal grants, and private funds available for clean energy and fuel-related projects. Contact David Jenkins, OEI, (608) 264-7651, DavidJ.Jenkins@Wisconsin.gov

Green approval can be incentive but shouldn't be the only reward

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

From a column by Whitney Gould in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Its critics liken it variously to a death march or a colonoscopy. At best, it's a long, costly slog through red tape.

So why would anyone want to go through the headache of getting a "green" imprimatur for a new building?

Well, there's the satisfaction of doing the right thing for the environment, when your building is recognized for using natural light, energy-efficient mechanical systems, recycled materials, storm water-runoff controls and other resource-saving devices. And there's the prestige of that LEED sticker, for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, bestowed by the U.S. Green Building Council. That can be a great marketing tool.

But even some environmentally conscious architects and building owners think the process of getting that sticker is not worth the hassle. Ken Leinbach, executive director of the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee's Riverside Park, is one. Hiring consultants and doing the paperwork to get the LEED stamp of approval for his already very green building would have added an estimated $75,000 to the $3.4 million cost, so Leinbach skipped the process.

"It just didn't make any sense. We decided we'd rather put the money into actual green features," such as a vegetative roof and solar panels, he said. The LEED-free building has won national admiration as a model for green building and saves as much as $15,000 a year on energy costs.

State on the wrong track?

Sunday, June 03, 2007

From an article by Susan Smith from the Wisconsin State Journal:

EDGERTON -- Henry Stockwell's got a problem with the railroad.

This year there were two derailments in two months in his Rock River neighborhood south of Edgerton; the February crash tossed a rail car up an embankment and within a few feet of the bedroom where his grandson was sleeping.

In May, Stockwell and neighbor Dave Markson stood along the tracks when a fact-finding train full of local officials chugged by, with signs reading, "Gov. Doyle Help Us!"

. . . Bill Gardner's got a problem, too, even though he runs the railroad. His Wisconsin & Southern Railroad runs on tracks owned by the state of Wisconsin. Gardner says he mailed the metal because some legislators aren't even aware that the state owns about 600 miles of tracks, acquired in the 1980s when railroads such as the Milwaukee Road went bankrupt.

"Why isn't the state interested in fixing up its own assets?" said Gardner, who has the blustering style of a railroad magnate from the 19th century. "Business (that uses rail) is coming in faster than the money to fix it. The state is happy to take the property tax and the payroll tax from those new businesses, yet they don't want to fix the ... railroad that brought in the businesses."

Wisconsin's largest solar electric system.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee now boasts a 44 kW solar electric system, the largest in the state. Focus on Energy assisted with financing the installation.

Focus on Energy presentation, noon, Feb. 12

Friday, February 09, 2007

Noon to 1:00 p.m.
Room 400 SE, State Capitol

RENEW Wisconsin and the Madison Peak Oil Group invite legislators, aides, Capitol staff, lobbyists, agency staff, and the general public to a series brown-bag lunches on energy-related issues.

Without a doubt, this legislative session will see several bills and administrative rules on energy issues, and the brown-bag lunches will provide the background and context to help with a better understanding of the underlying issues. The briefings will be non-partisan and will not offer positions on any proposals pending at the time.

Focus on Energy: Status and Future, presented by Kathy Kuntz, Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation. Focus on Energy works with eligible Wisconsin residents and businesses to install cost effective energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Focus information, resources and financial incentives help to implement projects that otherwise would not get completed, or to complete projects sooner than scheduled. Its efforts help Wisconsin residents and businesses manage rising energy costs, promote in-state economic development, protect our environment and control the state's growing demand for electricity and natural gas.

For more information contact Ed Blume.

Winter newsletter online

Thursday, February 08, 2007

This winter's edition of the Wisconsin Renewable Quarterly, now posted online, includes the following articles:

RENEW and Clean Wisconsin Defend Wind Power Project;
We Energies Cops National Honors;
Don Wichert: RENEW Founder and Tireless Advocate;
How I Fell in Love with My Solar Dryer;
PSC Approves WE Wind Project;
Doyle Sets Plans to Expand Renewables.

Merrill fitness club uses sunlight to warm pool

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

A story by Amy Olson in the Wausau Daily Herald reports on a solar water heating project supported in part by Focus on Energy:

As a child, Paul Kienitz and his family heated their house with wood and grew their own vegetables. Now, the owner of Riverside Athletic Club in Merrill is heating its pool by harvesting sunlight.

Kienitz opened his fitness club 25 years ago. In 2002, he added a pool and whirlpool.

He had long thought about ways to save energy after the addition was built. The 60-foot long pool alone holds 50,000 gallons of water, and the whirlpool holds 800 gallons, Kienitz said. Add in showers for the 250 to 300 people who use Riverside Athletic Club each day, and you get a hefty utility bill.

In March, he installed solar panels with the help of a grant from Focus on Energy, a program that works with Wisconsin business owners and residents to boost energy efficiency and support renewable energy projects.