Wisconsin’s Widening War on Renewable Energy

Monday, July 11, 2011

Dramatic Slowdown in Market Activity Anticipated
By Michael Vickerman
July 11, 2011

What started out as an opening salvo from the Walker Administration to shackle large-scale wind projects has in six months turned into a systematic campaign to dismantle the state policies that support renewable energy development. Joining the executive and legislative branches in pursuing policy rollbacks and/or funding cutbacks against renewables are various utilities and, surprisingly, Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s ratepayer-funded energy efficiency and renewable programs.

Since January 1st, Wisconsin has seen a series of assaults against utility-scale projects and smaller renewable systems serving both residences and businesses. These include the following actions:

• The Legislature suspended PSC 128, the statewide rule developed by the Public Service Commission last year in response to a law passed by the Legislature in 2009 ordering the agency to establish uniform standards for permitting wind energy systems. Since the March 1 suspension vote, wind development in Wisconsin has slowed to a standstill.
• The Legislature adopted SB 81, a bill that RENEW Wisconsin describes as the “Outsource Renewable Energy to Canada Act.” SB 81 allows Wisconsin utilities to meet their renewable energy requirements beginning in 2015 with electricity generated from large hydropower plants in other states and Canada. By allowing Wisconsin utilities to become even more dependent on energy imports than they are today, SB 81 turns Wisconsin’s Renewable Energy Standard on its head. Importing large-scale hydropower exports the very dollars that could have been used to harness Wisconsin’s renewable energy resources. 
• We Energies, the state’s largest electric utility, abruptly decided in May to walk away from an agreement with RENEW to dedicate $60 million over a 10-year period in support of renewable energy development in its territory. The decision came in the sixth year of this program. We Energies plans to reallocate the unspent dollars (totaling about $27 million) to general operations. 
• Green Bay-based Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) instituted in April a new net energy policy designed to discourage new customer-sited renewable energy systems. Until recently WPS had been paying its customers the full retail rate for electricity that flows back on the wires, which is now about 12 cents/kWh. But under the new rate, WPS only pays three cents/kWh for electricity exported to the grid. Moreover, the utility calculates the net each month, which penalizes customers whose loads vary significantly depending on seasonal factors. Right now, the new policy only covers systems installed after March 2011, but WPS has said that it plans to apply that rate to older systems effective January 2013.
• In its deliberations on the biennial state budget passed in June, the Legislature appended a rider to tie Focus on Energy’s annual budget to a percentage (1.2% of gross utility revenues). This action will mean a cut of $20 million in the program’s 2012 budget relative to this year’s allocation of $120 million. The Focus on Energy program provides grants and cash-back awards supporting customer investments in solar electric, solar thermal systems, small wind, biogas and biomass energy systems. 
• Last, but certainly not least, as of July 1, Focus on Energy stopped accepting applications for business program incentives to help customers install renewable energy systems. These incentives, which average about $7 million per year, had been available since 2002 to businesses, farms, schools, local governments and other nonprofit customers. It is not clear when these incentives will be resumed and in what quantity. 

Read more »

Let's get new RTA bill done

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

From an editorial in the Wisconsin State Journal:

The same Republicans who just killed the Dane County Regional Transit Authority say they're willing to allow RTAs in Wisconsin if they're more consistent and accountable.

OK, then let's get moving on just such a bill.

Dane County needs an RTA to encourage regional cooperation on transportation planning to avoid gridlock.

Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, and Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, played key roles during the recent state budget process in nixing the legal status of several RTAs including Dane County's.

Yet they told the State Journal editorial board recently that they'll encourage more study and a compromise bill that can be approved as early as next year or by 2013.

We intend to hold them to that pledge.

Funding Hiatus Darkens Outlook for In-State Renewables

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Immediate release
July 5, 2011

More information
Michael Vickerman
Executive Director
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

Funding Hiatus Darkens Outlook for In-State Renewables

For the first time in its 11-year history, Focus on Energy is no longer accepting applications from Wisconsin businesses and nonprofit entities seeking to install renewable energy systems. This new policy took effect July 1.

According to Focus on Energy officials, this suspension of financial incentives is necessary to balance demand for renewable energy systems with available funds. In 2009, Focus on Energy allocated approximately $10 million to support customer-sited renewable energy systems. More than half of that allocation went to businesses, farmers, local governments, schools, and nonprofit organizations throughout the state.

“We recognize that Focus on Energy officials have a responsibility to ensure that outflows don’t exceed revenues. However, this suspension could not have occurred at a worse time for Wisconsin’s renewable energy contractors,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin.

“Unfortunately, this move coincides with Milwaukee-based We Energies’ decision to walk away from an agreement with RENEW Wisconsin to commit $60 million over a 10-year period to develop renewable energy within its territory,” Vickerman said. ‘We Energies disclosed its unilateral action in May, barely more than halfway into honoring its commitment.”

“Given the adverse environment for renewable energy right now in Wisconsin, we hope that the interruption amounts to nothing more than a brief timeout,” said Vickerman.

“Unless funding is restored quickly, 2012 will turn out to be a very lean year for contractors and installers,” Vickerman warned.

As of this moment, the renewable energy marketplace is bristling with new installations. Installations to be completed this summer with incentives from Focus on Energy include:
• Two small wind turbines serving a Monroe County cranberry grower;
• A solar hot water system serving a new apartment building next to the Hilldale shopping complex in Madison;
• Side-by-side solar hot water and electric installations atop a new classroom building at the UW-Oshkosh;
• An engine generator fed with biogas derived from the City of Appleton’s wastewater treatment plant.

However, without a fresh supply of Focus-funded projects, Wisconsin’s renewable energy development pipeline will slow to a trickle, forcing contractors and installers to either seek work in other states or lay off employees.

Wisconsin has more than 2,500 customer-sited renewable energy installations, the vast majority of which received either financial incentives or facilitation services from Focus on Energy. In total, these installations have a generating capacity of about 20 megawatts.

END

Good roads are the backbone of any economy

Friday, July 01, 2011

An editorial in the La Crosse Tribune illustrates much of the current thinking about transportation, with no consideration of environmental issues or concern for future oil supplies:

There are lots of reasons why transportation is a crucial part of Wisconsin’s economy – 6.5 billion of them. That’s the dollars that are in the transportation budget over the next two years.

Here are some positive points about the transportation budget:

• The raid on the transportation fund, which resulted in the siphoning of $1.3 billion to pay for other state programs under former Gov. Jim Doyle — is over. That money has been paid back.
• Bonding for major projects continues but at a lower level. Borrowing has declined by $155 million.
• There is no increase in gas taxes or vehicle registration fees.
• More than $35 million in sales tax revenue will be put into the transportation fund, which represents 7.5 percent of the revenue from sales of vehicles and vehicle parts.
• The $2.8 billion of spending in the state highway improvement program is the same as the previous budget. 

Transportation funding has been a challenge since the Legislature in 2005 stopped the annual gas tax increase. With more fuel-efficient cars and declining registration fees, many road projects were on the cut list because of declining revenue.

The budget also establishes the Transportation Finance and Policy Study Commission, which will investigate where future transportation funds should come from. We need some creative revenue options to keep our transportation system strong, unless we like the idea of toll roads, bad highways or failing bridges.

Good roads are the backbone of any economy, particularly a state like Wisconsin that relies heavily on transportation to support its manufacturing and agricultural base. The state has more than 112,000 miles of public roadway, which includes 11,753 miles (750 miles of interstate and 11,010 miles of state or U.S.-marked highways) in the State Trunk Highway System.

Small businesses hit hard by cuts and changes in Focus on Energy

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

From an article by Judy Newman in the Wisconsin State Journal:

Focus on Energy, a statewide program that promotes energy efficiency, is in the midst of big changes: new management by an out-of-state corporation, suspension of a popular rebate program, and sharp funding cuts in the pending state budget.

Nearly 20 people already have lost their jobs, mostly in Madison, as a result of the management change.

Meanwhile, dozens of small Wisconsin businesses that specialize in setting up solar panels and wind turbines fear for their futures because of the slashed allocation and rebate removal.

“It’s a lot of economic activity and jobs in Wisconsin. It’s a lot of energy efficiency, as well,” said Keith Reopelle, policy director for Clean Wisconsin.

Focus on Energy was created in 2001 to provide education, resources and cash incentives to Wisconsin residents and businesses to increase the use of energy-efficient products and systems, from furnaces to solar panels to vending machines.

In the past 10 years, more than 91,000 businesses and more than 1.7 million residents used the program and saved $2.20 for every dollar spent, according to Focus data. . . .

Since taking over Focus on Energy on May 9, one of Shaw’s first decisions, with PSC support, was to suspend payments to businesses that install renewable-energy systems, as of June 30.

Contractors like Seventh Generation Energy Systems were stunned.“It’s pretty devastating,” said James Yockey, chief executive officer. “It probably took out six to 10 projects that we were looking to close ... for work in the fall and the coming spring.”

Several of the projects were wind turbines for farmers. “I think the incentives are decisive in people saying yes,” Yockey said . . . .

Program supporters have appealed to Gov. Scott Walker to veto the Focus budget cut, including a letter signed by 124 Wisconsin businesses. As of Friday, there was no word on his response. Walker is scheduled to sign the budget today.

“Cutting Focus on Energy will result in higher electricity bills and fewer jobs,” Randy Johnson, president of U.S. Lamp, a Green Bay energy-efficient lighting design company, said in the letter.

Seventh Generation’s Yockey said he hopes to avoid laying off any of his 16 employees by aiming his business at other states, and that could mean moving the company. “We prefer to be located in Madison but the bottom line is: we’ll see where the business takes us,” he said.

Madison wind installer wins national award

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Immediate release: June 28, 2011
More info: Jim Yockey 608-770-9660

Wisconsin business wins National Small Wind Installer of the year

MADISON – Seventh Generation Systems Integration was awarded the National Installer of the Year honor at the 7th Annual Small Wind Conference in Stevens Point, WI on June 16th. This recognition of national scope is given to the company for their positive contribution to the growth of the distributed wind industry.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, small wind turbine installations grew 15% in 2009. Wisconsin is well suited for small wind, defined as turbines of 100 kilowatts or less, because of the rural landscape and economy. Until recently, state incentives helped grow the small wind industry through Focus on Energy, supported by a strong presence in the Midwest Renewable Energy Association.

The small wind industry has seen its share of challenges since Seventh Generation began in 2002. As an emerging industry, small wind manufacturers are always keeping up with industry standards and customers’ needs. The honor of receiving the Small Wind Installer of the Year comes as a result of working exceptionally well with manufacturers and state programs to serve the needs of rural Wisconsin.

Currently, Seventh Generation has installed more than 30 small wind turbines ranging in size from 10kW to 100kW, for a collective installed capacity of more than 1megwatt. Seventh Generation works primarily with farms, camps, schools, and businesses to match technology to the customer’s energy requirements. Along with the engineering and design of renewable energy systems, the company is recognized as a leader in resource monitoring and analysis. More about the organization can be found at www.sges.us.

END

State’s Hostility Toward Renewables Escalates; “Leaders” Lag Citizenry on Wind Support

Monday, June 27, 2011

Two articles from Catching Wind, a newsletter published by RENEW Wisconsin with funding from a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy:

State’s Hostility Toward Renewables Escalates
At the urging of Wisconsin utilities, several lawmakers have introduced a bill to allow a renewable energy credit (REC) to be banked indefinitely. If adopted, this measure (AB146) would constitute the most devastating legislative assault yet on the state’s renewable energy marketplace, which is already reeling from the suspension of the statewide wind siting rule this March and the loosening of renewable energy definitions to allow Wisconsin utilities to count electricity generated from large Canadian hydro projects toward their renewable energy requirements.

“Leaders” Lag Citizenry on Wind Support
Public support for wind energy development has held strong against the attacks launched by Governor Walker and the Legislature’s new Republican majority, according to a poll conducted between April 11 and April 18 by the St. Norbert College Survey Center for Wisconsin Public Radio.

Asked whether Wisconsin should "increase, decrease or continue with the same amount" of energy supply from various sources, 77% favored increasing wind power, the highest of any option (60% favored increasing hydropower, 54% biomass, 39% natural gas, 27% nuclear, and 19% coal).

120 businesses urge funding support for job creation through energy efficiency and renewable energy

Friday, June 24, 2011

From an article by Charles Davis in the Green Bay Press Gazette:

Thousands of future jobs are at stake if Gov. Scott Walker doesn't veto a provision in the state budget that limits funding for the Focus on Energy program, local business leaders said Wednesday.

"I see it being a real detriment to our business and our customers going forward if we don't have these funding increases," said Jeff Klonowski, regional manager of Kaukauna-based Energy Federation Inc., which supplies lighting fixtures, foam and weather-stripping materials to area contractors.

But supporters of the provision object to the amount of the funding increase, not the program.

"The Focus on Energy program certainly had a lot of benefits, but the huge increase in assessments that were put in place at the end of last year, we think, were too much, too soon," said Scott Manley, director of environmental and energy policy for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state's largest business lobby.

Walker received a letter Wednesday signed by more than 120 businesses asking that he veto that provision in the state budget bill. His office responded with a one-line statement: "We'll evaluate that provision and make any veto-related announcements once the decisions have been finalized."

The program
The statewide Focus on Energy program is funded by tax assessments on utility bills and provides grants to help homeowners and businesses pay for energy-efficient upgrades. It also helps pay for consultants to advise property owners on which type of upgrades would be practical and cost-effective. Each year, utility companies contribute 1.2 percent of revenue — about $100 million total — to the program.

The state Public Service Commission proposed in December raising the utility bill assessments from $94 million in 2010 to $256 million by 2014.

The proposal calls for utilities to increase their contributions to $120 million this year. That amount is fixed even if Walker does not veto the provision. However, assessments would drop to around $100 million in 2012, instead of the initial proposed increase of $160 million for that year.

Image by Clean Wisconsin

Energy program cuts called short-sighted

Thursday, June 23, 2011

From an article by Mike Ivey in The Capital Times:

Stanley Minnick runs a one-man consulting company in Madison called Third Power Energy Solutions.

Minnick founded the company earlier this year with the primary aim of helping businesses, non-profits and residents save money on their energy bills.

But just as Minnick is getting his business up and running, the state has cut funding for Focus on Energy, which provides grants to help pay for conservation efforts like solar power installations or high-efficiency lighting.

"The timing on all of this is just awful," says Minnick. "We're supposed to be growing the state economy and help new business get going. It just doesn't make any sense."

The new state budget cuts funding for the state Focus on Energy from $120 million to less than $100 million annually. It also rolls back annual increases approved in December 2010 by former Gov. Jim Doyle's Public Service Commission that would have upped funding to $256 million by 2014.

The monies come from a 1.2 percent tax on electric utility sales -- an arrangement the investor-owned utilties have begrudingly accepted though hardly embraced.

Minnick says those grants, which go to utility customers who make energy improvements, have provided stability to the conservation industry and helped businesses make investments they might not have pursued otherwise.

The cuts were approved last month by the Joint Finance Committee and included in the budget signed by Gov. Scott Walker last week.

"It's unfortunate this ended up mixed into the budget because I don't think a lot of Legislators had time to really look at it," says Keith Reopelle, senior policy director at Clean Wisconsin.

Clean energy advocates note that Wisconsin sends $17 billion of state annually to purchase coal, oil and natural gas. They say that every $1 invested in Focus on Energy reduces energy bills for consumers by at least $2.50. They also credit the program with creating 24,000 jobs in the state.

Southeastern Wisconsin leaders ask state to restore mass transit funding

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

From an article in BizTimes Daily:

A coalition of southeastern Wisconsin civic, educational and business leaders is asking the state Legislature to restore state funding for mass transit in the region.

The coalition sent a letter to state senators and Assembly members Monday, calling on legislators to refrain from making the cuts outlined in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill. The letter said mass transit is vital to the economic future of southeastern Wisconsin economy.

The letter was co-signed by Kenosha Mayor Keith Bosman; Cudahy Mayor Anthony Day; St. Francis Mayor Al Richards; South Milwaukee Mayor Tom Zepecki; Racine Mayor John Dickert; Oak Creek Mayor Richard Bolander; Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele; Greater Milwaukee Committee President Julia Taylor; Racine Area Chamber of Commerce President Michael Kobylka; South Suburban Chamber of Commerce President Barbara Wesener; KenoshaArea Business Alliance President Todd Battle; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Michael Lovell; University of Wisconsin-Parkside Chancellor Deborah Ford; Milwaukee Downtown Executive Director Beth Nicols; Devin Sutherland of Downtown Racine Corp. BID #1; Mike Fabishak of Associated General Contractors Greater Milwaukee; and Tom Rave of The Gateway to Milwaukee.

The letter stated:
“In the current economy, creating, maintaining, and connecting people to private sector jobs is a top priority. The state budget proposal to drastically reduce state funding for already severely strained transit systems in SE Wisconsin would threaten economic growth by making it harder or impossible for workers to get to jobs and discourage employers from locating or expanding in Wisconsin. . . .

Walker says ‘yes’ to roads we don’t need

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

From a column by Dave Zweifel in The Capital Times:

Whether it’s a result of recent bad winters or just the impact of more and more traffic, local roads and streets have taken a serious beating throughout Wisconsin.

Potholes, sunken manhole covers and deteriorating concrete and asphalt are taking their toll on cars and the nerves of the people who ride in them. Many communities and counties have fallen behind on road maintenance in recent years because of budget shortfalls.

But we’ll just have to learn to live with the disintegrating roads and streets thanks to yet another curious set of priorities on the part of the Scott Walker administration.

The new Wisconsin budget, which is headed full speed to implementation, includes massive cuts to Wisconsin schools, fewer dollars for the working poor, more tax breaks for big business and, yes, less money to help the state’s already-beleaguered municipalities fix streets and roads. (Madison is on the verge of losing $1 million.)

Instead, the budget that’s being fashioned by the Walkerite-dominated Joint Committee on Finance will effectively shift transportation dollars away from the locals and into the hands of the big road builders who gave so generously to get Walker elected.

While local road aid is headed for what looks like a $35 million cut, some $328 million more is being earmarked for new highway construction by shifting automobile sales tax revenue, which has historically gone to the general fund, into the transportation budget. Further, more dollars for big highways are being freed up by shifting public transit out of the transportation budget and into the general fund, where public transportation will be more vulnerable to indiscriminate budget cutting.

Peak Oil Meeting, June 9

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Please join us for the Madison Peak Oil Group (MPOG) monthly brown bag meeting this Thursday! (It was delayed one week this month.)

Time: 12:00 noon on Thursday, June 9th
Place: 222 South Hamilton Street, Madison
RENEW conference room on the lower level

Please renew your annual MPOG membership if you have not done so yet. Suggested level $15 – more if you can afford it. Make out your check to Madison Peak Oil Group and give it to Ed Blume in person…or mail to him at 222 South Hamilton Street, Madison WI 53703

Agenda:
(1) Introductions
(2) Financial Report
(3) Announcements, Upcoming Events

June 17-19: Midwest Renewable Energy Association Fair
https://www.midwestrenew.org/energyfair

June 24: Statewide Transit Advocates meeting
Best Western Inn on the Park, Madison
Exact time to be announced: most likely mid-day or afternoon
Contact Kerry Thomas to get on mailing list: kthomas@transitnow.org (262) 246-6151

July 8-10: EcoFair 360, Walworth County Fairgrounds
http://ef2011.ecovisionslc.org/hours
MPOG will present – WE NEED A VOLUNTEER

July 28: Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers summit, Wisconsin Dells
Contact Mike McCoy to get on mailing list: mccoymh@chorus.net
MPOG members are hereby encouraged to join ProRail/WisARP
http://www.prorail.com/about.html (Sorry but the website is kinda flakey)
Membership = $20/yr. Make out your check to ProRail and send to:
ProRail Membership, P.O. Box 5401, Madison, WI 53705-0401

(4) Reports, Summaries

June 1-4: Congress for the New Urbanism
http://www.cnu.org/node/3697

(5) State Government Issues

Status of Renewable Energy – Mike Vickerman

Status of RTA and Transit

(6) Electrified Steel Interstate – Alan Drake concept
I recommend we make this a top priority for MPOG
Please review this before meeting: http://www.theoildrum.com/node/4301?nocomments

Summary of EXCELLENT meeting on June 2nd

Now online: Wisconsin Renewable Quarterly

Monday, June 06, 2011

The Wisconsin Renewable Quarterly, the newsletter of RENEW Wisconsin, features these article:

Siting Rule Suspension Rocks Wind Industry
In a move that sent shock waves through the wind industry in Wisconsin, a joint legislative panel voted on March 1 to suspend the wind siting rule promulgated by the Public Service Commission in December 2010.

Community Biogas Project Fires Up
Home to 400 dairy farms, Dane County recently dedicated a community-scale manure-to-methane generating system designed to reduce nutrient runoff into the Yahara Lakes.

Insty Prints: Mpower ChaMpion
But if I can help other businesses make some of the harder choices by being more vocal, then I’m willing to help.

Manitoba Hydro: A Washout?
On behalf of our members and the many businesses and individuals who support the continued expansion of Wisconsin’s renewable energy marketplace, RENEW Wisconsin is here to express opposition to AB 114 (and its companion SB 81), and urges the Legislature not to pass this bill.

Verona Firm Begins Work on “Epic” PV
With the commissioning of its 1,300-module solar electric canopy spanning its parking deck, Epic Systems joins an elite group of Wisconsin companies embracing on-site energy capture to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. At 360 kilowatts (kW), Epic’s new photovoltaic system is the largest solar array in Dane County and the third largest in Wisconsin.

Calendar of Renewable and Energy Efficiency Events
June 17-19, 2001 The Energy Fair. Custer, WI. The nation’s premier sustainable energy education event. Three days of workshops, demonstrations, and exhibits highlighting renewable energy and sustainable living. For details see www.midwestrenew.org.

July 8-10, 2011 EcoFair360. Elkhorn, WI. Join hundreds of exhibitors and presenters and thousands of attendees who will Make Green Happen for three days of education, exploration and inspiration. For details see www.ecofair360.org.

July 16, 2011 Western Wisconsin Sustainability Fair. Menomonie, WI, Dunn County Fair Grounds. Exhibitors from business, government, and non-profi t groups, speakers, workshops, music, energy effi cient vehicles, a photo contest, and a tour of the Cedar Falls Dam. See http://sustainabledunn.org for more information.

July 30, 2011 8th Annual Kickapoo Country Fair. LaFarge, WI. The Midwest’s Largest Organic Food and Sustainability Festival. Food, music, bike and farm tours, cooking demonstrations, theater, kids’ activities, dancing. More information at www.kickappoocountryfair.org.

October 1, 2011 Solar Tour of Homes and Businesses. All across Wisconsin. Owners open their doors to let people see how renewable energy is practical, reliable, and affordable in today’s economy. The homes and businesses often include other energy efficiency and renewable technologies. For details see http://nationalsolartour.org.

October 26, 2011 Wisconsin’s Solar Decade Conference. Milwaukee, WI. Now in its seventh year, the Wisconsin
Solar Decade Conference is your opportunity to see fi rsthand the latest developments in the world of solar energy. For details see www.solardecade.com.

Coal companies shape lessons in public schools

Friday, June 03, 2011

From an article by Kevin Sieff in The Washington Post:

In the mountains of southwestern Virginia, Gequetta Bright Laney taught public high school students this spring about a subject of keen interest to the region’s biggest employer: the economics of coal mining.

“Where there’s coal, there’s opportunity,” Bright Laney told her class at Coeburn High School in Wise County.

Her lessons, like others in dozens of public schools across the country, were approved and funded by the coal industry. Such efforts reflect a broader pattern of private-sector attempts to influence what gets taught in public schools.

Eager to burnish its reputation, the energy industry is spending significant sums of money on education in communities with sensitive coal, natural gas and oil exploration projects. The industry aims to teach students about its contributions to local economies and counter criticism from environmental groups.

These outreach efforts have drawn scrutiny after news in May that Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher of children’s books, distributed fourth-grade curriculum materials funded by the American Coal Foundation. The “United States of Energy” lesson plan, which the foundation paid $300,000 to develop, went to 66,000 fourth-grade teachers in 2009. After critics raised questions about potential bias, Scholastic announced that it will no longer publish the material in question.

Environmentalists and public education groups say the Scholastic example highlights the increasingly cozy relationship between industry groups and public schools. They also criticize what takes place in classrooms such as Bright Laney’s, where industries fund lessons that echo their interests.

“We’re talking about catering our public school curriculum to those who can pay for it,” said Josh Golin, program manager at the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, based in Boston. “It raises questions about the foundation of our public education system.”

Written on the wind: Glacier Hills open house offers up-close look at project

Thursday, June 02, 2011

From an article by Lyn Jerde in the Portage Daily Register:

TOWN OF SCOTT - Along with names, dates and shout-outs to favorite sports teams, the writing on the turbine blade included a warning: "Watch out."

Mark Barden wrote it, in permanent black marker.

The warning, he said, is aimed at any birds that might fly near the blade once it's turning, 400 feet in the air.

Wednesday's open house at the Glacier Hills Wind Park was Barden's first up-close look at the components of the 90 electricity-generating wind turbines that have begun to rise in the skyline in northeast Columbia County.

But it won't be his last look. Barden said three of the towers will be on his land in the town of Scott, just outside of Cambria.

He said he doesn't share the health and safety concerns about the wind towers that many of their opponents cited in seeking to block the construction of Glacier Hills - things such as constant low-level noise and shadow flicker.

"I'm more worried," he said, "about the red lights at night," he said. "When I look in the sky and try to find constellations, all I'll see is the red beacons (on the towers).

"But," Barden added, "we'll deal with that."

Barden was one of several hundred people who attended the open house, which included indoor easel and tabletop displays, and a tour - on foot or by school bus - of one of the four towers that, as of Wednesday, had two of its four segments erected.

Mike Strader, site manager for the We Energies project, said that, barring wind or other inclement weather, plans call for adding the top two segments to at least one of the towers today, with the hub, cell and three blades of the turbine to follow soon.

More photos on RENEW's Facebook page.

Beyond the Bus-vs.-Rail Debate

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Beyond the Bus-vs.-Rail Debate: Cultivating Transit Discussions that Take Us Where We Need to Go

A talk by Jarrett Walker, international transit consultant and author of the weblog HumanTransit.org

Tuesday, May 31, 2011, 7:00 p.m.
UW Pyle Center, Room 313
702 Langdon St., Madison, WI

Like many cities, Madison has spent years debating rail and other ideas for improving area transit. Yet few of these proposals have moved forward, and new threats to transit funding could undo what progress has been made.

Why are debates over transit often so frustrating and contentious? Can we frame them differently to foster more productive conversations and stronger consensus, both about the kinds of transit systems we want and about the value and benefits of transit to our communities?

Jarrett Walker, international transit consultant and author of the popular transit policy weblog HumanTransit.org, thinks we can, and will discuss how in a talk on Tuesday evening, May 31, at 7:00 p.m. in Room 313 of the UW Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. in Madison.

A fundamental problem, he maintains, is that heated quarrels over transit technologies have made it harder to think and talk clearly about what we really want for our communities and which choices best achieve those goals. The relationship between transit technology and transit outcomes is not always as clear as it seems, and categorical opinions about any technology, rail or bus, can blind us to many other ways to improve our transit systems and thereby enrich our communities and our lives. Approaching transit issues from a different point of view may make them easier to resolve.

Jarrett Walker, PhD, has been a consulting transit planner for 20 years, and has worked on a wide range of projects, from small-city bus re-structurings to major transit corridor studies. He has written HumanTransit.org since 2009 and his book Human Transit, expanding on themes from that writing, is forthcoming this fall from Island Press.

The talk is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the UW Center on Wisconsin Strategy’s State Smart Transportation Initiative, the Dane Alliance for Rational Transportation, the DaneTransit coalition, and the Madison Peak Oil Group. For further information contact Fred Bartol at (608) 251-6126.

Interactive Workshop on “Express Carpooling” - June 2, Madison

What: Presentation and Interactive Workshop on “Express Carpooling”

When: Thursday, June 2nd , 7:00-8:30 PM

Where: Room 202 of the downtown Madison Public Library

Here is a synopsis from Fred Bartol of DaneTransit:

What is “express carpooling” and how could it make getting around Madison and Dane County easier? Paul Minett, founder of Raspberry Express, an express carpooling initiative in Auckland, New Zealand, will describe what it is, how it works, and who might benefit from it.

Unlike formal ridesharing programs which match participants in advance for regularly scheduled car- or van-pooling arrangements, express carpooling enables riders and drivers, screened through a membership process, to meet at designated collection points for shared rides over established routes to designated drop-off points, then reverse the process later in the day. The route, rather than the ride, is what the service provider organizes based on commuter demand.

Minett believes the express model could make carpooling easier by making it more flexible and spontaneous, something commuters can use as needed, rather than having to arrange in advance and commit to for an extended period. The benefits could be significant, for commuters seeking to cut costs, for communities seeking to expand transportation options, and for regions seeking to manage traffic.

Born in the United Kingdom, Paul Minett was raised in Canada and has lived in New Zealand since 1987. An accountant and business consultant who holds an MBA from the University of Auckland, he is the co-inventor of a patented express carpooling system and has published and presented widely on the topic of carpooling and ridesharing. He has been a leader in founding the Ridesharing Institute, a research organization committed to expanding ridesharing practices worldwide, and will be in Madison to participate in the Congress for the New Urbanism conference, taking place June 1-4 at Monona Terrace.

The downtown Madison Public Library is located at 201 W. Mifflin St. in Madison. The presentation is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Dane Alliance for Rational Transportation, the DaneTransit Coalition, and the Madison Peak Oil Group.

Electrified Steel Interstate - Planning meeting, June 2, Madison

Friday, May 27, 2011

What: Electrified Steel Interstate meeting (Alan Drake’s concept)
When: Thursday, June 2nd from 6:00 – 7:30 PM
Where: Sequoya Public Library, Meeting Room A, 4340 Tokay Blvd, Madison

The room has been reserved under the auspices of the Madison Peak Oil Group.

Overall goals of the meeting include:

(1) Develop and refine the Steel Interstate concept for Wisconsin (or perhaps the upper Midwest, given the central role of Chicago in the nation’s rail network)
(2) Identify key stakeholders
(3) Identify key advocacy partners
(4) Identify possibilities for collaboration (with the CFIRE group at UW Madison, for example – i.e. the National Center for Freight Infrastructure Research and Education.)
(5) Tally how much time/energy each of us is willing to contribute to this effort
(6) Come up with a reasonable action plan

I will send out a more detailed agenda by Sunday the 29th; if there are matters you want covered please let me know before then.

To prepare for the meeting, I would ask that you carefully read and make notes on Drake’s posting “Multiple Birds”.

What we need is something like a “peer review”: we want to make sure our logic is sound, our data is accurate, our goals are realistic, and our arguments are persuasive.

Sorry for the delay in scheduling this but I’m volunteering at CNU 19 this year and I needed to find out what my time slots were before I finalized this meeting.

Energy groups oppose bill to undermine Wisconsin's renewable energy commitment

Thursday, May 26, 2011

From statements issued by three groups in opposition to Assembly Bill 146:

"Clearly, this bill is a drastic step in the wrong direction for our state. The Wisconsin Energy Business Association therefore opposes this attack on renewable energy in our state." - Wisconsin Energy Business Association. Full statement.

We strongly recommend that this bill not be approved as it solves no known problem in Wisconsin and seeks only to roll-back policies on renewable energy that have served the state well and are otherwise benefitting Wisconsin residents with cleaner air and lower prices for electricity. - Wind on the Wires. Full statement.

Fresh attack on Wisconsin voters’ desire for a renewable energy standard would kill wind projects and sap state’s economy, say wind energy advocates - American Wind Energy Association. Full statement.

Chicago plans for heat wave -- a permanent one

Monday, May 23, 2011

From an article by Leslie Kaufman in The New York Times:

City planners in Chicago have been told that as temperatures rise, some plants native to the region will die out.

Climate scientists have told city planners that based on current trends, Chicago will feel more like Baton Rouge than a Northern metropolis before the end of this century.

So, Chicago is getting ready for a wetter, steamier future. Public alleyways are being repaved with materials that are permeable to water. The white oak, the state tree of Illinois, has been banned from city planting lists, and swamp oaks and sweet gum trees from the South have been given new priority. Thermal radar is being used to map the city’s hottest spots, which are then targets for pavement removal and the addition of vegetation to roofs. And air-conditioners are being considered for all 750 public schools, which until now have been heated but rarely cooled.

“Cities adapt or they go away,” said Aaron N. Durnbaugh, deputy commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Environment. “Climate change is happening in both real and dramatic ways, but also in slow, pervasive ways. We can handle it, but we do need to acknowledge it. We are on a 50-year cycle, but we need to get going.”

State clean energy mandates have little effect on electricity rates so far

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

From an article by Don Huagen in Midwest Energy News:

One of the larger reviews of renewable portfolio standards was a 2008 report (PDF) from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The study looked at data on a dozen state renewable policies enacted before 2007. The estimated impact on electricity rates varied by state, but it was a fraction of a percent in most cases and just over 1 percent in two states, Connecticut and Massachusetts. “There is little evidence of a sizable impact on average retail electricity rates so far,” the report concluded.

One of the report’s co-authors, Galen Barbose, said in an interview that they are collecting data for an updated version of the report. So far he said he hasn’t seen any new information to suggest their conclusion about rate impacts will change significantly in the next edition.

A 2009 study by the U.S. Energy Information Administration modeled the potential impact of a 25 percent nationwide renewable electricity standard. It, too, noted that rate impacts would vary by state, with renewable-rich regions like the Great Plains and Northwest meeting the targets more easily. Overall, though, it projected no impact on rates through 2020, followed by a less than 3 percent increase by 2025. By 2030, however, it projected little difference in rates with or without a national renewable mandate.

The Minnesota Free Market Institute and American Tradition Institute reached a very different conclusion in an April 2011 report (PDF), which claims Minnesota’s renewable electricity standard is going to cause rates in the state to skyrocket by as much as 37 percent by 2025.

Utilities’ experiences vary
Xcel Energy, the state’s largest utility, has come up with a much smaller number: $0.003. That’s the difference Xcel forecasts between its projected per-kilowatt-hour energy price in 2025 under its proposed wind expansion plan compared to a hypothetical scenario in which it stopped adding new wind capacity after 2012.

Asked to comment on the Free Market Institute’s study, Xcel Energy spokesman Steve Roalstad said, “It doesn’t seem to be moving in that direction.” The cost of adding renewable energy sources, especially wind, continues to fall and has become very competitive with traditional generating sources, he said.

Without aid, Hiawatha is in a pinch

Monday, May 16, 2011

From an article by Larry Sandler in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Wisconsin scrambles to replace federal money

After being turned down for federal high-speed rail funds, state officials are now pondering how to pay for millions of dollars of work needed to keep the existing Amtrak service running between Milwaukee and Chicago.

Last week, the federal government rejected the state's request for more than $150 million for new locomotives, passenger cars and a maintenance base to upgrade the Hiawatha line. Also rejected was a bid for nearly $60 million in related track, signal and engineering work.

That decision followed Gov. Scott Walker's refusal to build a 110-mph extension of the Hiawatha to Madison, as part of a larger plan to connect Chicago to the Twin Cities and other Midwestern destinations. After Walker's election, the federal government pulled nearly all of the $810 million stimulus grant that would have paid for the long-planned Milwaukee-to-Madison stretch.

But Walker supported keeping and upgrading the existing Milwaukee-to-Chicago service, with backing from the Milwaukee-area business community. And since some of the $810 million would have been used to improve existing service, the state asked for $213.3 million for that purpose.

Now, after the federal rejection, the state is faced with at least $209.1 million in potential costs for the existing service. But only $69.5 million in state and federal funds has been committed to those expenses, leaving a gap of $139.6 million.

Some of that gap could be filled by borrowing. From 1993 to 2009, lawmakers approved $122 million in borrowing power for passenger rail projects. To date, state officials have used $49.5 million of that authority, leaving $72.5 million available.

Transportation officials have asked the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee for permission to use some of that bonding power. But even if they could use all of it, they would still come up more than $67 million short.

We Energies terminates its renewable energy program

Friday, May 13, 2011

For immediate release
May 13, 2011

More information
RENEW Wisconsin
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

We Energies Terminates Its Renewable Energy Program

Utility Pulls Plug on $6 Million a Year Commitment

As reported on its Web site, Milwaukee-based We Energies will discontinue an innovative and effective renewable energy development program that supported scores of renewable energy systems throughout its service territory. [The announcement can be accessed at http://www.we-energies.com/re.]

“It’s a sad day when the state’s largest utility decides to walk away from its commitment to a clean energy future,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide organization advocating for public policies and private initiatives that advance renewable energy.

As indicated in various filings with the Public Service Commission, We Energies had committed to spend $6 million a year over 10 years to increase its renewable energy supplies and make renewable energy more affordable to its customers through grants and incentives. We Energies’ commitment came in the wake of a settlement with RENEW over the utility’s plans to build two coal-fired power stations in southeast Wisconsin.

Of the $60 million committed, the utility has spent approximately $30 million since 2006. This program will be zeroed out in We Energies’ next rate filing, which will cover 2012 and 2013.
This program supported numerous customer-sited renewable energy installations [see list below], conferences and workshops, research and development activities, and innovative buyback rates.

“Perhaps not coincidently, the decision to terminate this program comes just months after We Energies placed its second coal-fired plant in service. The $6 million a year was a small price to pay for the all of the renewable energy advances that occurred while the utility built two coal plants,” said Vickerman.

“Now that the coal plant is up and running, it appears that the program has outlived its usefulness to We Energies,” Vickerman said.

Six million dollars equates to about .025 percent of We Energies’ annual expenditures.

“This cancellation comes as a blow to area contractors and businesses that were relying on the program to create jobs and clean energy,” said Vickerman. “The achievements leveraged far outweigh the program’s negligible cost.”

“Between utility program cutbacks and state government rollbacks, Wisconsin’s policy framework for supporting renewable energy will be largely dismantled by the end of the year.”

Read more »

Rail money went to states with "farsighted leadership"

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

From an editorial in The New York Times:

None of the money in Monday’s announcement will be going to Wisconsin, for example, where Gov. Scott Walker has also decided that his strapped state could do without rail improvements and the construction jobs that go with them. Nor will it go to Ohio, where Gov. John Kasich preferred rejectionism to the improvement of rail service among the state’s largest cities, which could have produced 16,000 jobs.

Instead, it will go to 15 states that have more farsighted leadership, who understand the important role federal dollars can play in stimulating the economy, moving people quickly from place to place and reducing tailpipe emissions. Some of those states are led by Republicans: Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan happily stood beside Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Monday to accept nearly $200 million to upgrade the rail line between Dearborn and Kalamazoo, the bulk of the Chicago-Detroit corridor.

Boneheaded move on transit

Monday, May 09, 2011

From an editorial in The Journal Times, Racine:

In a lamentable vote last week, state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, led the state’s Joint Finance Committee to vote 12-4 along party lines to do away with recently authorized regional transit authorities in southeastern Wisconsin and four other areas of the state.

It is a boneheaded and short-sighted maneuver that could well ring the death knell for commuter rail linking Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee and Chicago.

Unlike the high-speed rail proposed for Milwaukee to Madison by former Democratic Gov. James Doyle, KRM would connect a corridor of highly populated areas in the southeastern corner of the state. It would give businesses access to willing workers through the region, provide those workers with the means to get to jobs, give residents a car-free alternative to taking in the sights, recreational and entertainment offerings of Chicago and Milwaukee — and it would lessen the reliance on the Interstate highway system.

It was perhaps prophetic that the Vos-led vote last week came as gasoline pump prices roared well past $4 per gallon.

For good measure, the Joint Finance Committee also threw state funding for bike and pedestrian paths under the bus as well, eliminating $5 million in spending over the next two years.

Vos said the transit authorities were unpopular, unelected “abomominations” as he guided the vote for disbandonment.

Unlike during the Gov. Tommy Thompson era, in recent years Republicans have taken a Goldilocks and the Three Bears approach toward mass transit, complaining that plans — whatever plans — were too hot, too cold, too this, too that. The unelected “abomination” criticism from Vos that transit authorities would spend tax money, even though their boards were not elected, feeds into the recent rise in anti-taxing frenzy — including an advisory referendum in Racine County on “new taxes” for transit or rail that was defeated by a large margin.

In fact, Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget would have preserved transit authorities, but required a binding referendum before an authority could levy a tax.

That’s a more reasoned approach . . .

Epic fires up solar array

Friday, May 06, 2011

From an article by Jim Ferolie in The Verona Press:

They could have picked a better day for it, but on Tuesday, the new covered parking at Epic became fully functional.

Almost 1,300 solar panels over the company’s only large permanent outdoor parking area went online early that morning, supplying up to 360 kilowatts of electricity to the roughly 4,000-office campus outside Verona.

The system, supported by deep blue geodesic structures that perfectly match the much-maligned blue streetlights on Verona Avenue, has been in the works for months and is just the first big step in the company’s effort to become carbon-neutral and energy independent even as it continues to add buildings and employees.

Though the new solar panels account for only about 5 percent of the company’s current usage – and in fact, under the cloud-covered drizzle Tuesday morning it produced only about a tenth of its capacity – it’s an important training step along the way to the company’s goal of getting “off the grid” in terms of peak energy usage.

Epic facilities director Bruce Richards confirmed Tuesdaythe company’s roughly 2-acre array eventually will be dwarfed by a 15-acre solar field that will cover its more than 2,000 geothermal wells there and yet still allow the land to be farmed. It’s also looking into large-scale use of wind power and biomass to offset its almost 8-megawatt power consumption – about the same as all the homes in the city and town of Verona combined.

Budget commitee slashes energy efficiency funding

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

From an article by Mike Ivey in The Capital Times:

Cuts to key environmental programs continue in Wisconsin, with a sharp reduction in future funding for Focus on Energy, a statewide energy efficiency effort.

On a party-line vote Tuesday, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee rolled back the budget for Focus on Energy to less than $100 million annually. The monies come from a tax on electric utility revenues and are distributed to businesses and individuals for energy savings projects.

The Focus on Energy program has been administered over the past years by the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., a Madison-based non-profit. But the contract was awarded earlier this year to the Shaw Group, a Baton Rouge, La., firm with offices in Milwaukee.

The Public Service Commission in November 2010 had proposed new energy savings goals for Focus on Energy by hiking the utility assessment. Those budgets were then approved by the Democratic majority in Joint Finance and would have upped money in the program from $120 million in 2011 to $256 million by 2014.

But with the committee action, funding for Focus on Energy will remain flat for the foreseeable future.

Co-chairman Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, led opposition to the increase, calling it a redistribution of utility ratepayer dollars.

Launched in 2001, Focus on Energy has helped residents and businesses save nearly $2 billion on their energy bills, supporters of the program say.

New report drives home the benefits of high-speed rail

Monday, May 02, 2011

From a column by Dave Zweifel in The Capital Times:

With a guy like Scott Walker as governor, it’s probably tilting at windmills, but once again a comprehensive report has called attention to the importance of modernizing the Midwest’s rail system.

Late last week a group of transportation advocates and legislators released a report titled “The Economic Impacts of High-Speed Rail: Transforming the Midwest,” which showed that expanding passenger rail service in Wisconsin and the Midwest could create more than 100,000 jobs and $13.8 billion of economic activity.

During a press conference in the Capitol, the group noted that after the governor turned down $810 million in federal stimulus funds to improve passenger rail between Chicago and Milwaukee and extend it to Madison, he now is seeking federal help to upgrade the rail beds and add a train set on the Chicago-Milwaukee route. . . .

Despite the size of the Midwest’s economy, the report noted, it doesn’t have the transportation infrastructure to compete in today’s global marketplace.

Walker could have made sure Wisconsin was part of a new network that one day will transform the nation’s reliance on automobiles and the uncertainty of air travel.

His shortsightedness will cost us dearly for a long time to come.

Win a solar electric system! Tour businesses with solar!

Friday, April 29, 2011

MadiSUN solar program has two exciting opportunities for you! First, MadiSUN and our partners are giving away a free solar PV array valued at $25,000 that will offset $625 worth of annual electricity costs for the winner. Second, we are offering a free guided tour to get a first-hand look at several premier commercial solar systems installed on Madison businesses.

If your company has a solar installation, your , read below to see how yourcompany can participate.

MadiSUN Commercial Solar Tour
Join business owners, building operators, developers and others interested in commercial solar PV and solar hot water systems for a free guided solar tour. Site visits will include a variety of solar technologies and building types. Badger Bus private transportation, lunch, beverages, and coffee provided. Experts, systems owners and installers will be on-site to answer your questions. For more information visit www.madisun.org/tour.

Tuesday, May 24
Begins @ 9am and concludes @ 1:30pm
RSVP to bryant@madisun.org by Thursday, May 19
No cost to participate but spots are limited.

Win a FREE Solar PV System
The City of Madison's MadiSUN solar program and its partners are challenging building owners and business tenants to showcase their energy efficiency by participating in the MadiSUN Solar Giveaway Contest.

It's easy - all you have to do is complete and send in a contest entry form by July 31, 2011. The winning company will receive a 3 to 4 kW solar PV system and installation services provided by our project partners and valued at over $25,000. This system can produce enough renewable energy to offset approximately $625 worth of annual electricity costs.

Only for-profit business properties located in the City of Madison are eligible to participate. Businesses that do not own their building are encouraged to work with the building owner to complete the contest entry form.

For compete contest information, entry form and rules visit: www.madisun.org/giveaway

Solar Giveaway Partners: Johnson Controls Inc., Madison Gas and Electric, Ingeteam, Helios Solar Works, Focus on Energy and IBEW.

Poll finds strong support for wind energy in Wisconsin

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

From an article in the Chicago Tribune:

MADISON, Wis.— A poll of Wisconsin residents finds strong support for increasing the use of wind energy, even if doing so would raise electricity bills several dollars per month.

The Wisconsin Public Radio poll was released Friday. It shows that 77 percent of respondents want to see the state invest more in wind energy. Reasons included decreasing the nation's reliance on foreign oil and helping the environment.

A majority, 69 percent, wouldn't mind eight to 10 wind-energy machines being placed closed to where they live, and 79 percent favor placing the machines offshore in Lake Michigan.

Click here for poll results.

Southeastern Minn. could become hotbed for 'frac sand'

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

From a story on WEAU-TV, Eau Claire:

RED WING, Minn. (AP) -- Under the forested bluffs of southeastern Minnesota lies an increasingly sought-after resource. It's called "frac sand." And it's prized by the energy industry, which uses it to extract gas and oil from underground rock in a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Minnesota Public Radio reports an increasing number of companies are eying Minnesota for the sand, prized for its perfectly round, hard and chemically inert grains. One energy company recently purchased land near Red Wing for sand mining, sparking opposition from residents and environmentalists.

From an article in the Star Tribune, Minneapolis-St. Paul:

The fracking process pumps a mixture of frac sand, water and chemicals into underground rock formations to break up the stone and release oil and natural gas. It allows affordable access to fossil fuel supplies that once were too expensive to tap.

But it's been a contentious issue in some states that have fracking operations. Critics argue that chemicals used in fracking may be contaminating water supplies.

Natural gas well blowout raises safety concerns of fracking

Monday, April 25, 2011

From a Reuters article by Edward McAllister:

(Reuters) - A blowout at a Pennsylvania natural gas well late Tuesday could heighten concerns about the safety of a controversial process to extract gas from shale rock.

The accident comes at a sensitive time for energy drillers, exactly one year after an explosion that led to the massive BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and just as regulators mull whether to allow the technique in New York state.

The well in Bradford County, operated by Chesapeake Energy, spewed thousands of gallons of drilling fluid used in hydraulic fracturing, county emergency management officials said.

The process, also called fracking, releases natural gas from shale rock by blasting it with water, sand and chemicals.

Local residents were evacuated from Leroy Township, about 25 miles from the New York border, though Chesapeake said no one was hurt.

"An equipment failure occurred during well-completion activities, allowing the release of completion fluids," Chesapeake said in a statement.

The fluid initially spilled into a nearby waterway but tests found no adverse affects on aquatic life as yet, said a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Environmentalists and residents have complained that fracking can pollute water supplies. That has raised calls for increased regulation on the use of the process to produce natural gas, which is a cornerstone fuel of the Obama Administration's energy policy.

Advances in drilling technology such as fracking have revolutionized U.S. energy markets, opening up the potential of vast reserves of natural gas in shale deposits. Surging production from these areas have pushed natural gas prices down, making it relatively cheap compared to oil.

Gas drilling in Pennsylvania, and in particular in the Marcellus Shale, has drawn the attention of major energy companies due to estimates that the region holds enough gas to meet total U.S. needs for a decade or more.

FRACKING DEBATE
The blowout, which happens when a driller loses control of a well, could stoke the fierce debate about whether fracking should be allowed to continue unabated in the United States.

The timing is particularly problematic for the industry. On April 20, 2010, a blowout of a BP Plc well in the Gulf of Mexico led to an explosion that killed 11 workers and released nearly 5 million barrels of oil that fouled the shorelines of four Gulf Coast states.

Walker road plan driving him crazy

Friday, April 22, 2011

From a commentary by Steve Hiniker, executive director of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget has more than enough pain to go around. Schools get hit with more than $800 million in cuts over the next two years. Recycling programs are not funded. Health care for seniors and the poor are slashed. Local road aids are cut. Some transit systems may not survive the proposed reductions. State revenue sharing is going down, putting more pressure at the local level to cover the costs of cuts to state aids - and without raising property taxes.

It's called austerity.

Unless you happen to be a road builder.

Then this budget is called a bonanza.

While other programs are cut, highway expansion projects totaling more than $400 million get the green light. Highway expansion raids the general fund of more than $140 million, crushing any arguments that "highway users pay for the costs of roads." In fact, the general fund and property taxes will pay about half of roadway costs in the future. So-called user fees are soon to be eclipsed by decidedly nonuser fees.

When you look at the increase in highway spending, it is also important to pay attention to where the money goes. Local road aids are cut, meaning that even though there is more money going for major highway expansion, there is less money for local units of government to fix those bone-jarring potholes that crop up every spring. Maintenance dollars for highways are down as well.

Walker has said that the highway expansion is needed for our economic recovery. The governor is putting a lot of faith - and capital - in having superhighways be the cornerstone of the state's economic recovery. After all, he could have put the money in building better communities with better schools as a basis of economic development.

All of this seems bizarre when you consider that we are driving less than ever. We are in the fifth year of a steady decline in miles driven by each Wisconsin resident. The numbers of miles driven will likely decline even more as the cost of gas continues to climb above $4 a gallon. In fact, it is because we are driving less that the governor is proposing to raid the general fund for highways.

As people drive fewer miles with more fuel-efficient vehicles, they use less gas and the amount collected in gas taxes decreases. So in order to expand highways, non-transportation fund dollars need to be raised. This is why Walker is pushing transit aids out of the transportation fund and is raiding everything from general fund dollars to the environmental fund to pay for bigger roads.

But if people are driving less, why expand highways?

How coal stacks up against wind

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Madison Peak Oil Group listserve subscribers are debating coal vs. wind. To join the debate, drop an email to madisonpeakoil-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Masood Akhtar's work demands a lot of energy

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

From a Q&A article by Judy Newman in the Wisconsin State Journal:

If you ask for a business card from Masood Akhtar, be prepared to get a handful.

Akhtar wears many hats. He is currently:

• Chief executive officer and founder of BioPulping International, Madison.

• Co-founder and managing director of operations for Central Signal, Madison.

• President and founder of CleanTech Partners, Middleton.

• President and co-founder of the Bioenergy Deployment Consortium, Middleton.

• Chairman of the U.S. Forest Research Advisory Council.

Akhtar also is working on a joint energy project between the U.S. and India and a student exchange program between UW-Madison and several universities in India.

A native of India, Akhtar has lived in the U.S. for about 25 years, mostly in Madison, and is a U.S. citizen, "which I'm proud of," he says. . . .

Q: Most of your endeavors are related to energy. Do they share a common goal?

A: Energy efficiency and renewable energy. We talk about efforts to make our country less dependent on foreign oil - promoting efficiency is the cheapest, easiest, cleanest way to accomplish that.

When I came to the U.S., I was involved in research related to increasing crop yield. But I thought about energy and realized it would become a big issue. I wanted to find out where I could help.

All of my efforts are energy-related except for Central Signal, which develops technologies for railroad signals and constructs them.

'You do what you have to do' to when it comes to gas prices

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

From an article by Catherine Izerda on Janesville's GazetteXtra.com:

Local residents and travelers say the price of gas is changing their habits, but they also say there is not much they can do. Work, school and family obligations won’t lessen because gas prices go up.

Fuel prices started their steady climb in August 2010, when the state average was $2.72 a gallon. By Jan. 1, 2011, the price was $3.12. From there, prices took off, rocketing rapidly upward.

On Sunday, Rosemauri Katz stopped at the Lions Quick Mart on Milton Avenue to fill up. Katz was traveling from her home in Duluth, Minn., to visit family in Indianapolis.

“It does have an impact on your day-to-day life, but you do what you have to do,” Katz said.

It usually costs her about $65 in gas to make the trip to Indianapolis. She expects this trip to cost about $150.

“I know politicians are dealing with a lot of economic issues,” Katz said. “But this affects the economy, too.”

Katz said she and her husband hope to sell their home in Duluth and move to be closer to her family, eliminating the expense and time involved in such trips.

Angela Werle said her family members are changing their driving habits.

“My husband works in Milwaukee,” she said as she filled up. “He’s been driving our kids’ car. It’s an old Toyota and gets better gas mileage than his truck.”

He is also tuning up his motorcycle—an even more fuel-efficient vehicle—so he can ride that to work when it’s warmer.

Werle wishes she could ride her bike to work. She lives near Craig High School and works in Milton.

“Highway 26 is just too busy; it’s too dangerous,” Werle said as she finished putting $51.50 worth of gas into her car.

While rising gas prices are causing middle class pain, some low-income people have been immobilized by them.

Susana Hernandez is a math teacher and coordinator for Project AHEAD at UW-Rock County.

Hernandez works with students from high-risk populations. Some have criminal histories, have limited educations or only GEDs and face other struggles.

“It’s funny you should ask about gas prices,” Hernandez said. “I’ve given out $354 worth of bus tickets to students.”

The tickets are for the Beloit-Janesville Express.

Last year, her bus tickets “stash” carried her through the whole year and then some.

The solution isn’t to INCREASE subsidies for rush-hour drivers and freight trucking!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Fellow Rail & Transit Advocates:

The following is a transcript of my comments before the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee budget hearing in West Allis on 11 April 2011. Feel free to share, plagiarize, etc.!

Hans Noeldner
Oregon, Wisconsin
608-444-6190


We don’t have worsening congestion on Wisconsin’s roads because of people who van-pool and ride transit to work.

And our interstate highways are not crumbling because of freight that is being moved on railroads.

No, our highway funding system is broke because rush-hour motorists aren’t paying the real costs for all the capacity they demand. And freight truckers don’t begin to pay for all the damages they cause.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s counties and municipalities are digging deeper and deeper into property owners’ pockets because motorists aren’t paying the real costs of local roads and streets…and all the plowing, patching, policing, and EMS services motorists demand.

We have very serious budget problems in this state. The solution isn’t to INCREASE subsidies for rush-hour drivers and freight trucking!

No, we need to do everything possible to REDUCE the costs of moving freight and people. Wisconsin should work closely with rail companies to shift interstate freight from highways to rail. And we need to EXPAND transit, not cripple it.

But budgets aren’t just about money – they are about people.

If you are a person who is accustomed to driving whenever, wherever, and as much as you want, you have no idea what life is like for people who cannot drive…people who SHOULD not drive…families which can’t afford a car…people who would rather not depend on a car for everything.

These people deserve your representation no less than people who are like you.

I will close by challenging you to experience life on the other side of the windshield.

Walk to your grocery store a few times a month.

Pedal your bicycle to your place of worship.

Ride the bus when you go out for drinks on Friday night.

There is no better way for you to learn what you need to know – as servants of the people – than to walk in the other guy’s shoes.

Movie showings: "King Corn" and "Big River"

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Green Tuesdays Films & Lectures series presents:
"King Corn" and "Big River"
Oregon Public Library
256 Brook St.
6:30 pm.

In "King Corn," Cheney and Ellis, best friends from college on the east coast, moved to the heartland to learn where food came from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, nitrogen fertilizers, and powerful herbicides, they planted and grew a bumper crop of America's most productive, most subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they tried to follow their harvest into the food system, what they found raised troubling questions about what we subsidize, and how we eat.

In "Big River," the filmmakers return to Iowa with a new mission: to investigate the environmental impact their acre of corn has had on the people and places downstream. In a journey that spans from the heartland to the Gulf of Mexico, the two friends trade their combine for a canoe and set out to see the big world their little acre of corn has touched. Half of Iowa's topsoil, they learn, has been washed out to sea. Fertilizer runoff has spawned a hypoxic "dead zone" in the Gulf. And back at their acre, the herbicides they used are blamed for a cancer cluster that reaches all too close to home.

Can't make it to Oregon? Catch these films in Mt. Horeb on April 28, and Cross Plains on May 3. Calendar here.

Green Tuesdays: Creating awareness, sparking conversation, empowering
change.

Green Tuesdays Films & Lectures is a free series of films, resentations,and conversations that helps us become more aware of the resources we rely on and the actions we can take to better our world. In Oregon, sessions are on the third Tuesday of the month, September through May. All are welcome.

You can also enjoy Green Tuesdays (and Thursdays!) with our partners in Monona, Mt. Horeb, Cross Plains, Madison, and Middleton. To see the calendar for all Green Tuesday and Thursday dates, go here.

Green Tuesdays is sponsored by The Natural Step Monona in collaboration with Oregon Working to Live Sustainably (OWLS), Mount Horeb Area Sustainability Network, RGPL Green Tuesdays (Cross Plains), the City of Middleton Sustainability Committee, Edgewood College, and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and is supported by the Dane County Environmental Council.

Rising Diesel Prices Fuel Higher Electric Rates

Friday, April 15, 2011

For immediate release
April 15, 2011

More information
RENEW Wisconsin
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

We Energies Customers Will Pay the Higher Cost of Hauling Coal

We Energies’ electricity customers can look forward to coughing up an additional $25 million in 2011 due to the Public Service Commission’s approval yesterday [April14] of a rate increase to cover the escalating cost of transporting coal to Wisconsin power plants.

Milwaukee-based We Energies, Wisconsin’s largest electric utility, imports coal from such distant locations as Wyoming and Pennsylvania to generate electricity. Transportation now accounts for two-thirds of the delivered cost of coal to Wisconsin.

Diesel fuel costs have jumped to approximately $4.00 a gallon this year, propelled by political unrest in the Middle East, declining petroleum output from Mexico, a weakening dollar, and other factors. We Energies’ request predated the ongoing civil war in Libya.

“While we cannot control any of those price drivers, we can more effectively cushion their effects by diversifying our energy generation mix with locally produced wind, solar, small hydro, and biogas electricity,” said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide organization advocating for public policies and private initiatives that advance renewable energy.

“The coal mines aren’t getting any closer to Wisconsin. Therefore we have to be serious about reducing our dependence on fossil fuels that are tied to the global oil supply picture. Now is not the time to skimp on investments in conservation and renewable energy that will help stabilize the utility bills of businesses and residents,” Vickerman said.

“Do we have the will to pursue energy policies that take us off of the fossil fuel price escalator? Doing nothing will bake these rate increases into our future without any corresponding boost to Wisconsin’s job market and sustainable energy economy.”

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Madison Peak Oil Group testifies on Governor's budget

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Testimony on the Proposed 2012 Wisconsin State Budget
To the Hearing of Joint Legislative Finance Committee

Transportation Issues Positions
From the Madison Peak Oil Group

Overall Perspective
The Madison Peak Oil Group (MPOG) was founded 2006 under the leadership of RENEW Wisconsin, an organization promoting renewable energy, to broaden the community discussion of our challenging energy future. MPOG members closely follow of the research of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas-USA (ASPO), which maintains an authoritative dialogue on the emerging energy situation.

It is clear that world oil supply and demand are precariously balanced at present; that even a minor supply disruption has driven prices well over $100 a barrel, five times the level of a decade ago. A large body of data and research leads us to believe that there are deep problems with petroleum supply, particularly the slow-down of new discoveries and accelerated depletion of existing fields, coupled with ever-growing demand from Asia. These factors are worsening with time, and may converge within the next five to ten years to produce a long term price/supply crisis. Authoritative sources such as the International Energy Agency predict this possibility, and the financial market speculators appear to share this opinion and are driving oil futures prices ever upwards. (We have attached our case statement expanding on the factual basis for this judgment.)

In response, there is a vital need to progressively restructure our car- and truck-dominated economy by strengthening alternatives that are less dependent on low cost petroleum. We can not allow the current majority preferences for car travel and never-ending demands for highway improvements—as compelling as these are--to blind us to impending dangers and prevent us from taking action. Responsible officials must bear in mind that we risk painful dislocations when gas and liquid fuel shortages eventually become severe—as they did during the oil shocks of the 1970s and 2008—if we do not concurrently build up our alternative transit, freight and passenger rail, and personal transportation systems.

Read more »

High-speed rail money vanishes in budget deal

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

From an article by John Gramlisch on Stateline.org:

Congress on Tuesday (April 12) revealed the details of the federal budget deal reached by Democrats and Republicans late last week, and a clear loser is high-speed rail.

Funding for the program, a priority for President Obama, was slashed dramatically in the agreement announced by the administration and GOP House Speaker John Boehner. Not only does the deal eliminate all financing for high-speed rail this year, it takes back $400 million of the $2.5 billion that Congress authorized for it last year, The New York Times reports.

"The cuts will not bring the rail program to a halt, as there is still unspent rail money that can be used on new projects. But they leave the future of high-speed rail in the United States unclear, to say the least," The Times says. "Roughly $10 billion has been approved for high-speed rail so far, but that money has been spread to dozens of projects around the country. If Congress does not approve more money, it is possible that the net result of all that spending will be better regular train service in many areas, and a small down payment on one bullet train, in California."

High-speed rail has been a favorite target for congressional and state-level Republicans who see it as a waste of money.

New technology helps Dane County power trucks with trash

Monday, April 11, 2011

From a news release issued by County Executive Kathleen Falk:

While prices at the pump continue to climb, Dane County is using new technology to fill-up some of its vehicles for around 20-cents a gallon.

County Executive Kathleen Falk announced today the county is the first place in the state that’s running vehicles on landfill gas.

The county, in partnership with several private companies that specialize in turning trash into bio-gas, have installed technology at the Dane County landfill that turns landfill gas into compressed natural gas (CNG). Over the next several weeks, a number of Dane County parks and public works trucks will be converting over to using this cleaner burning, less expensive bio-fuel.

At Thursday’s event, Falk demonstrated how the new filling station works.

“Filling up has never been this cheap in my lifetime,” Falk said as she noted gas hasn’t been as low as 20 cents a gallon since the 1930s. “Through innovation, we’re saving tax dollars, cleaning up our air and turning an environmental problem into a green energy opportunity,” Falk said.

Falk added the pursuit of these alternative fuels is especially important given continued volatility of prices at the pumps (gas is currently $3.75 at many area filling stations).

A few years ago, the county started converting methane gas given off by decomposing landfill trash into electricity that now earns taxpayers over $4.3-million a year. Turning a percentage of landfill methane into compressed natural gas for county cars and trucks won’t affect the amount of electricity generated.

While the methane gas given off by the landfill is essentially free, it does cost around the equivalent of 20-cents a gallon of gasoline to convert that methane into fuel that can be used by vehicles. This new compressed natural gas gets the same fuel efficiency (miles per gallon) as the regular unleaded gas that people buy at gas stations.

This new landfill gas station makes about 100 gallons of CNG each day and was developed through a partnership between Dane County, Cornerstone Environmental Group LLC, Unison Solutions Inc., Madison College, Alliant Energy, and ANGI Energy Systems, a Milton-based manufacturer and global supplier of natural gas compression equipment.

Walker should reconsider his stance on setbacks for wind farms

Friday, April 08, 2011

From an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Wind farms in Wisconsin can lessen the state's reliance on coal-fired power plants at the same time that they add jobs to the economy. But instead of moving forward on this economic development tool, Gov. Scott Walker's administration is taking a step back. That's a mistake and something Walker should rethink.

What the governor and the Legislature have done is change the rules under which wind farms are sited, seeking to put greater distance between homes and wind farms. As a result, at least two firms have announced they are canceling or suspending plans to build wind farms in Wisconsin - and that means a loss of potential jobs.

Here's what happened: Two years ago, the Legislature called on the state Public Service Commission to establish a uniform standard for wind projects across the state. The idea was that a statewide standard was better than the patchwork of local rules and moratoriums that were in place. It was a good idea, and the PSC came up with a rule.

One of its elements was a 1,250-foot setback from a neighbor's property line; it also would have provided decibel and shadow flicker requirements for wind farm turbines.

The setback wasn't enough for Walker and wind farm opponents; in January, the governor introduced a bill with a 1,800-foot setback, although he said this week that his administration remains open to wind energy. Last week, a legislative committee sent the PSC's new rule back to the PSC for more work. The concern is that wind farms will hurt property values of neighboring residents.

That's resulted in enough uncertainty over the future of wind farms in Wisconsin that Invenergy of Chicago canceled plans to develop a wind farm near Green Bay and Midwest Wind Energy suspended development of two wind farms.

A statewide standard still needs to be set by the PSC. And the legitimate concerns of neighbors of wind farms need to be taken into account without giving too much credence to fears that are unfounded and overstated. But the standard should not be so restrictive that wind farms become impractical in Wisconsin. That takes Wisconsin out of the clean energy economy - a bad bet.

Shortsighted energy plans just won't cut it; renewables needed

Thursday, April 07, 2011

From an editorial in the Sheboygan Press:

President Barack Obama has twice in the last year called for the nation to reduce its dependence of foreign oil by embarking on a multi-faceted plan on energy.

Obama's first call for energy independence was followed less than a month later by the Deep Water Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

We hope that the president's latest energy initiative is followed not by a disaster, but by a commitment from Congress to develop a national energy policy. A commitment from the American people to be receptive of alternative energy sources would be nice, too. . . .

Until recently, we thought Wisconsin was poised to become a leader in helping the nation reach that goal.

Wind power was one area where Wisconsin was setting the pace.

The state had sensible rules on where wind turbines could be located in relation to residential properties and the state was on its way toward making progress on using this renewable energy resource. But those rules are on hold and are likely to be changed to the point where it will be impractical for companies interested in locating wind farms to do business in Wisconsin.

This is not only shortsighted in development of renewable energy sources, it is also a job-killer because the companies that now make wind turbines in Wisconsin are already talking about relocating to states where wind power is welcomed.

The easy thing to do is to keep relying on oil and coal to power our cars and heat our homes. The wise thing is to develop a long-range plan that relies on renewable energy.

Parisi makes commitment to clean energy projects as county exec

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

From an article by in The Capital Times

Most people assumed Rep. Joe Parisi would win the race to be the next Dane County executive.

The real question was by how much.

Parisi ended up defeating Dane County supervisor Eileen Bruskewitz by some 70,000 votes, earning 120,255 (70 percent) compared to her 51,143 votes.

Parisi now faces the daunting task of maintaining county services and pro-environment policies at a time when the Republican-led Legislature and governor's office are pushing to privatize programs in an attempt to scale back a $3.6 billion structural deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1. . . .

His campaign promise to promote economic and environmental sustainability will include a commitment to extend several environmentally friendly projects started by outgoing Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk.

This includes a project that captures methane gas from landfills and turns it into electricity. The electricity is then sold back to power companies, generating $3 million a year for the county. Parisi also cites Falk's support of the solar hot water heater at the county jail. The heater will save the county roughly $640,000 in expenses over its lifetime.

"That is real money and real savings," Parisi said. "But those are the types of evidence-based programs and innovative projects we need to continue to find. The work ahead of us is tough. It is going to be challenging."

Open letter from former supporter rips anti-wind group

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

A Fox Valley person provided a copy of the following letter to RENEW Wisconsin:

People of Glenmore Township:
PLEASE VOTE RESPONSIBLY!

Dear Fellow Townspeople,

Two months ago, I was a supporter of the BCCRWE [Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy]. I was actively opposing the wind turbines coming into any of the townships in our area, including Glenmore.

But then something happened.

As the March 7th meeting drew closer, I heard disturbing things from members of the BCCRWE. Things that scared me. Even before the meeting took place, there were threats being made towards our town board members if the vote did not go in the favor of the BCCRWE. There were “agendas” being planned, and conspiracies being formed, not only against the project, but against individual people.

On March 7th, I sat quietly through the meeting listening to barbaric accusations, foul language, curses and threats hurled at our town board. Members of the BCCRWE shouted inappropriate and belittling comments and became unruly and disruptive to the point that law enforcement needed to be called. Later, I read accounts of that same meeting, written by the BCCRWE, that were horribly distorted and inaccurate. Actually, they were straight out lies!

On March 16th, I sat through another meeting and watched the same unruly group, once again, disrespect our town leaders. As the members of the BCCRWE were chanting “Shame on you” to the town board, I was the one that was ashamed to have ever been a part of that group.

On April 5th, you have an opportunity to elect new town board members. Many of the candidates are the same people who threatened and disrespected our current board members for following the law. One candidate admitted, her only goal was to terminate wind turbines in the town and then she wants out. Is that the chairperson you want running the entire township? Even for one term?

The recent events of oil spills in the gulf and nuclear plant failures in Japan should make all of us take a second look at wind energy. I realized after the two meetings in March, that the only reason I didn’t want turbines, was because I couldn’t have on of my own. So, I’m a NIMBY.

It’s important, that we have “responsible” leaders in our township. The mob I witnessed at the last two meetings, did not fit that definition. It would be a disaster to have those people who demonstrated irrational, biased and disorderly behavior, become our new leaders. I was embarrassed to have ever been a part of that group.

Since I have seen how threatening and dangerous this group can be, I prefer to sign only as,

A Concerned Townsperson

Madison Metro general manager expresses concern over state budget changes

Monday, April 04, 2011

Dane County's manure digester ready to provide electricity

Friday, April 01, 2011

From an article by Ron Seely in the Wisconsin State Journal:

WAUNAKEE - Sure, the cows on the farm run by Chuck Ripp and his brothers near here generate a lot of manure — about 7 million gallons a year.

But now they also generate electricity.

Call it cow power.

Thursday, Dane County officials were joined by farmers and utility officials and others to flip a ceremonial switch and power up the state's first cooperative manure digester. Spearheaded by Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, the $12 million project has been more than six years in the making.

When it is in full operation, the digester plant with its three huge tanks will process manure from three adjacent farms and a total of 2,500 cows. It will remove about 60 percent of weed-growing phosphorus from the manure. The digester will produce methane and that methane will be used to power generators that will churn out $2 million a year in electricity, enough to allow Alliant Energy to power 2,500 homes.

And, according to Dick Pieper, with Clear Horizons, the company that will run the plant, the entire operation can be run with an iPod.

"The efficiency of this plant is exceptional," said Pieper. "It's world class."

Falk said the plant represents an important milestone in green energy production and in manure management in Wisconsin. Many digesters don't remove phosphorus, which clogs lakes with weeds and toxic blue-green algae during warm months. But the Dane County plant was designed specifically to remove the nutrient.