‘Green Grocer’ takes on new meaning for Twin Lakes store

From an article in the Kenosha News:

TWIN LAKES — Installing energy-efficient lighting and controls is expected to save a Twin Lakes grocery store more than $28,700 a year eventually.

New equipment — mechanisms on freezers, cash registers and scales, and almost 650 lights — set up the past four months at Richter’s Twin Lakes Sentry, 600 N. Lake St., should cut utility costs enough to pay for the changes in less than five years.

The alterations are part of a “Green Grocer” program offered by the Wisconsin Grocers Association. The store will receive its Green Grocer certificate at 10 a.m. today during a store tour by representatives of various involved organizations. The public is invited.


Brett Hulsey, from Better Environmental Solutions, a Madison firm administering the program, said the western Kenosha County store is one of 10 certified in the state. The stores were in the service area of Wisconsin Power and Light, one of the program’s supporters.

The program now will expand outside that area, including Racine, Hulsey said. Kenosha grocers could take part by contacting the Wisconsin Grocers Association.

The program offers a low-interest loan to grocers to purchase the energy-efficient merchandise, costing up to $100,000 on average, Hulsey said. Savings will be used to pay off the loan. After that, it will translate to a reduced cost of business, he said. BES estimated the $28,700 savings at the Sentry store.

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We Energies' wind park offers significant benefits to the state

From the written decision of the Public Service Commission on We Energies' Glacier Hills Wind Park:

WEPCO’s [We Energies’] wind-powered electric generating facility is a renewable resource that offers significant benefits to the state of Wisconsin. The air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions it avoids, the lack of solid waste, and the fact that it consumes virtually no water are important environmental benefits. This project will support the state’s goal of increasing its reliance upon renewable resources and will help diversify Wisconsin’s pool of electric generating facilities. It fits well with existing land uses, will help preserve the agricultural nature of the project area, will impose no reliability, safety, or engineering problems upon the electric system, and will create no undue adverse impacts on environmental values. After weighing all the elements of WEPCO’s project, including the conditions imposed by this Final Decision, the Commission finds that issuing a CPCN will promote the public health and welfare and is in the public interest. The Commission also finds that, while members of the public are concerned about possible health effects associated with the project, there is not sufficient evidence in the record to conclude that the project would cause adverse health effects. (Page 45 of the Order, Docket 6630-CE-302.)

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Council committee approves solar power revolving loans

Anews release issued by Alderman Tony Zielinski:

The Community and Economic Development committee unanimously approved an ordinance today that allows the City of Milwaukee to create the state’s first property assessed solar power revolving loan program to make solar power a more attractive option for homeowners.

Alderman Tony Zielinski, primary sponsor of the ordinance says promoting solar power is critical for environmental reasons as well as job creation. “Encouraging solar power options creates job opportunities for solar panel installers and also helps to increase a need for manufacturing the panels and the jobs related to that process,” Ald. Zielinski said.

“Historically, one of the barriers to installing solar power in homes has been the upfront costs. This loan program reduces that impediment and for as little as a few hundred dollars, a homeowner can create energy efficiency in their home and begin saving money immediately,” Ald. Zielinski said.

Homeowners who take advantage of the loan program have 15 years to repay the installation costs; money they can easily earn in energy savings, Ald. Zielinski notes.

Co-sponsor of the ordinance, Alderman Nik Kovac said “Creating this energy efficiency improvement fund is one way the City of Milwaukee can help its residents increase the efficiency of their own home while simultaneously creating a specific job market within the city.”

“Homeowners are looking for green solutions,” Ald. Terry Witkowski, co-sponsor, said, “and the City of Milwaukee can only stand to benefit by exploring alternatives like the solar power loan program.”

The ordinance will appear before the full Council on Tuesday, March 2 for approval. Residents who would like to learn more about the property assessed solar loan program or access the program manual should contact Andrea Luecke, project manager of the Milwaukee Shines program, at aluecke@milwaukee.gov. For more information about how the City of Milwaukee supports solar energy, click on www.MilwaukeeShines.com.

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Sustainable Community Living Seminar, Feb. 24, Kenosha

From an announcement made by Gateway Technical College:

Harnessing Renewable Energy Opportunities

DATE: February 24, 2010
TIME: Morning Seminar - 1 :OOp.m. - 3:00p.m.
Evening Seminar - 7:00p.m. - 9:00p.m.
HOST & LOCATION: Gateway Technical College, Horizon Center, 4940 88th Avenue, Kenosha, WI 53144

YOU ARE INVITED: to attend an interactive presentation on methods, execution and sustainable economical outcomes for communities. Robert Laporte, Molecular Biologist and CEO of Neutopia ecoSolutions, Inc., will present the seminar. Mr. Laporte will show several examples of how communities have benefitted from sustainable implementation, such as decreasing municipal waste issues, creating new revenue streams and more.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sheila Axl, EleclriChargeMobility:
262-789-8409
eleclricharge@me.com

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Clean Energy Jobs Act would boost economy and employment

From a news release issued by the Center for Climate Strategies:

Implementation of the recently introduced Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) would expand the state’s economy and create thousands of additional new jobs for Wisconsin. These impacts are reported in a recent Center for Climate Strategies (CCS) analysis of the macroeconomic effects of the proposed law, conducted by Michigan State University and the University of Southern California in association with the State of Wisconsin. The analysis focuses on nine proposed policy actions that address clean and renewable energy, energy efficiency, industrial processes, transportation and agriculture.

Based on a state-of-the-art macroeconomic analysis, implementation of these CEJA actions would result in the following outcomes for Wisconsin:
 Create a net increase of more than 16,200 new jobs in the state by 2025;
 Boost the state’s economy (Gross State Product) by
o $254 million in the near term (2015),
o more than $700 million in 2020,
o $1.41 billion by 2025, and
o $4.9 billion total over the 2011-2025 period.

Reactions to the study: Governor Doyle and CREWE.

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Study projects minimal impact from renewable buyback rates

From a letter to State Rep. Spencer Black and State Sen. Mark Miller from RENEW Wisconsin:

RENEW is pleased to provide the enclosed copy of the narrative and appendix of tables from an economic analysis that we commissioned.

The analysis concludes that special buyback rates (sometimes called Advanced Renewable Tariffs) designed to stimulate small-scale renewable energy installations would have negligible impact on residential utility bills, averaging about $10 a year. That’s less a dollar a month for the typical customer. And it’s less than a household’s cost of purchasing the smallest block of green power from Madison Gas and Electric, for instance.

Compared with other forms of economic stimulus, promoting small-scale renewables through utility buyback rates would deliver a substantial and long-lasting economic punch with minimal impact on the Wisconsin citizen’s pocketbook.

Prepared by Spring Green-based L&S Technical Associates, the study modeled rate impacts from the legislation’s provisions for ARTs on the state’s five largest utilities. The modeling predicts cost impacts ranging from a low of $8.12 a year for a residential customer of Wisconsin Public Service to as high as $11.07 for a Wisconsin Power and Light (Alliant) customer. The projected impact would amount to $8.81 a year for a We Energies customer, $9.71 for a Madison Gas and Electric customer, and $10.11 for an Xcel Energy customer.

The projections assume that when each utility reaches its maximum threshold of 1.5 percent of total retail sales. In the aggregate, this percentage equates to 1/70th of total annual sales. That’s one billion kilowatt-hours a year, out of total annual sales of 70 billion kilowatt-hour.

Though the principals of L&S Technical Associates serve on RENEW’s board of directors, they have prepared numerous renewable energy studies for other clients, including the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Center of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. L&S has also co-authored renewable energy potential studies in response to requests from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.

The bill’s renewable energy buyback provisions would unleash a steady flow of investment that would lead to new economic activity and jobs while moving us toward energy independence – exactly what we all hope to accomplish by passage of the Clean Energy Jobs Act legislation.

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Team effort brings green jobs to Wisconsin

From a blog post on BizTimes.com by Steve Jagler, executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee:

. . . BizTimes Milwaukee broke the story that Milwaukee was one of three finalists to be the North American headquarters of a Spanish alternative energy company.

As we now know, that company turned out to be Ingeteam, a Spanish wind turbine company that confirmed Tuesday it will construct a $15 million, 100,000-square-foot facility in Milwaukee’s Menomonee River Valley. The complex will span about 8.1 acres at 3757 W. Milwaukee Road.
Ingeteam, headquartered in Bilbao, Spain, will employ about 275 workers in Milwaukee by 2015.

Milwaukee was chosen to be the site of the new plant after a coordinated recruitment effort that included officials from the Milwaukee 7 economic development team, We Energies, Marcoux and Wisconsin Commerce Secretary Richard “Dick” Leinenkugel, who went to Spain to seal the deal.

“The Menomonee Valley was once Wisconsin’s largest brownfield,” said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. “Now, the valley is home to businesses that employ thousands of people.”

The deal was made possible by $1.6 million in tax credits through the federal stimulus program, up to $4.5 million in state tax credits and another $500,000 forgivable loan from the state.

"After carefully analyzing our company's needs, we selected Milwaukee for our new production facility because the city is conveniently located for distribution of our products and has a solid industrial base from which Ingeteam can source materials," said Ander Gandiaga, Ingeteam's corporate director for international development.

“Milwaukee also has a labor pool experienced in electrical manufacturing. In addition, the area boasts prestigious universities with some of the highest-ranked engineering departments in the country that offer specific courses in renewable energy, which will be very useful when it comes to finding specialized staff," said Aitor Sotes, chief executive officer of Ingeteam Inc., Ingeteam's subsidiary in the United States.

Gandiaga also said the Wisconsin team "made an impressive effort to sell Ingeteam on the virtues of locating in this community. The Ingeteam project perfectly fits the model of the clean energy economy and job creation goals that the city and state are pursuing.”

Ingeteam considered more than 80 sites before selecting Milwaukee as the North American home for its company.

“They could have located this $15 million facility anywhere in the nation. Believe me, Michigan tried very hard,” Leinenkugel said. . . .

The doomsday naysayers who perpetually beat the drum that Wisconsin is a horrible place to do business again had to take a holiday Tuesday. I love when that happens.

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Wind energy firm picks Milwaukee for plant

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

Politicians and business leaders were quick to celebrate - and claim credit for - Monday's announcement that a Spanish company will bring hundreds of new jobs to Milwaukee.

Wisconsin's current governor, two candidates to succeed him, and not one but two regional economic development alliances all lined up to score points from a new Menomonee Valley plant for Ingeteam, a Spanish manufacturer of wind-turbine generators.

About 270 manufacturing jobs will be created by the plant, said Greater Milwaukee Committee President Julia Taylor. Building the plant will bring construction jobs as well, said Patrick Curley, chief of staff to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

It will be Ingeteam's first North American factory, said Gale Klappa, co-chairman of the Milwaukee 7 economic development coalition.

Ingeteam chose the valley because of its proximity to workers, I-94 and Spanish-speaking neighborhoods, as well as Milwaukee's "great reputation for manufacturing," said Barrett, also a Milwaukee 7 co-chairman.

The plant will be built near the western end of the valley, Barrett said. The exact site will be announced Tuesday, Curley said.

Barrett called on Klappa, the chief executive officer of We Energies, to make the announcement during the mayor's "state of the city" address at the downtown headquarters of Manpower. He also introduced five Ingeteam executives, who he said had just flown in from Spain for the announcement.

In January, President Barack Obama's administration announced that Ingeteam had been awarded $1.66 million in clean-tech manufacturing tax credits to make wind turbine generators as well as power converter and control systems in Milwaukee. Further indications surfaced last week that the company had picked Milwaukee.

Ingeteam is a privately held, diversified manufacturer based in Zamudio, Spain, a suburb of Bilbao, the city visited last fall by state Commerce Secretary Richard Leinenkugel, City Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux and Milwaukee 7 representatives. Outside Spain, the company has operations in seven countries, including an office in Mequon.

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Debate over Clean Energy Jobs Act centers on prices

From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

In the rhetoric of the energy bill debate in Madison, energy prices will go up - either because the Legislature passes the Clean Energy Jobs Act or because the Legislature fails to pass it.

Rising energy prices are a familiar refrain to many in Wisconsin, where energy expenditures total $16 billion a year. A review of electricity price increases by the Journal Sentinel found residential customers across the state pay 39% to 70% more than they paid in 2001.

Advocates on both sides of the debate over the Clean Energy Jobs Act are raising fears about higher costs.

Opponents say utilities will have to invest billions of dollars in wind farms and other projects to comply with an aggressive renewable energy mandate proposed by the bill. Supporters say billions of dollars are at risk because of Wisconsin's heavy reliance on coal.

A new analysis by the state Public Service Commission found that utility bills are likely to be less in 2025 if the bill passes and there's a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system that penalizes coal.

Public Service Commission Chairman Eric Callisto testified at a recent hearing that power prices for a typical Wisconsin customer would fall nearly 7% if the bill is passed and there's a $20-per-ton price on carbon. Prices would fall 1% if there's a $10-per-ton price on carbon and would rise nearly 6.6% if there's no carbon price, he said.

"But that's not reality," he said. "I don't believe for a second that we're going to see a future where carbon doesn't have a price on it."

In its studies over the last several years, the commission has been banking on the fact that there will be a price on carbon, he said.

Under that scenario, "there are dollars left on the table by the status quo," Callisto said.

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Doyle announces $500,000 in stimulus grants for energy independence planning

From a news release issued by Governor Doyle:

MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle today awarded $500,000 in Recovery Act funds to communities moving toward a clean energy future. The Governor announced 11 grants totaling $500,000 to help 24 communities develop plans to reach his “25 by 25” energy independence goals.

“These grants will help Wisconsin communities across the state seize the opportunity to save money through energy efficiency and grow a strong new part of our economy in clean energy,” Governor Doyle said. “Through the Recovery Act, our communities will lead as the world moves rapidly in the direction of clean energy and energy efficiency. We spend $16 billion on fossil fuel energy every year in Wisconsin, and all those dollars are lost to our economy. By working toward these ambitious renewable energy goals, we will create good jobs and continue our state’s clean energy leadership.”

The grant program is funded through the Recovery Act’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program. The 24 communities will create “25x25” plans to meet the Governor’s goal of generating 25 percent of the state’s electricity and transportation fuels from renewable resources by the year 2025.

The 2010 Wisconsin Energy Independent Community Partnership Pilots are: City of Altoona, Crawford County, City of Eau Claire, Eau Claire County, City of Fennimore, Village of Ferryville, Green Lake County, City of Gays Mills, City of Jefferson, City of Kaukauna, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Village of La Farge, City of Monona, Polk County, City of Prairie du Chien, Shawano County, Village of Soldiers Grove, Vernon County, Village of Viola, City of Viroqua, Waukesha County, and City of Whitewater.

The 25x25 plan process begins this month and will be completed by December 2010. During the process, opportunities will be available for other communities to learn from the experiences of the pilot communities. Open meetings on the topic will be held by the Office of Energy Independence during the months of April, August and December.

The program builds on Governor Doyle’s work to make Wisconsin a clean energy leader. Last month, Governor Doyle launched the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a landmark legislative package to accelerate the state’s green economy and create jobs.

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Town of Holland can't block wind farms, developer says

From an article by Scott Williams in The Northwestern (Oshkosh):

A wind farm developer has cautioned town of Holland officials that their moratorium on construction of wind farms is not legally enforceable.

Invenergy LLC, which is seeking state approval for a wind farm in southern Brown County, also questions Holland's toughened setback requirements for wind turbines.
"Regardless of the town's desire to enact such a moratorium or setbacks, it has no power to do so," Invenergy attorney Peter Gardon wrote in a six-page letter dated Feb. 4.

The Holland Town Board voted Feb. 1 to impose a one-year moratorium on wind farm construction so residents could have more time to study and debate the Invenergy plan. The Chicago-based company wants to build 22 wind turbines in Holland, as well as 78 more in the neighboring towns of Morrison, Wrightstown and Glenmore.

It would be the first major commercial wind farm in Brown County and the largest in Wisconsin.

An opposition group called Brown County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy has urged Holland and the other towns to enact moratoriums.

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MMSD and Kenosha County join in 25x25 goal

From a news release issued by Govenor Doyle:

MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle announced today that the City of Madison, Kenosha County and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) have joined the Wisconsin Energy Independent Community Partnership. They have pledged to work toward Governor Doyle’s “25x25” goal of generating 25 percent of the state’s electricity and transportation fuels from renewable resources by the year 2025. . . .

“I welcome Madison, Kenosha County and MMSD as new partners in working toward energy independence that keeps energy dollars in our state, creates good jobs and cleans our air and water,” Governor Doyle said. “Every year, we send $16 billion out of state to power our homes and businesses and fuel our cars. Building a clean energy economy is not only an enormous opportunity to capture those dollars, but also create good jobs here in Wisconsin.”

Last month, Governor Doyle launched the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a landmark legislative package to accelerate the state’s green economy and create jobs. The package calls for updating renewable portfolio standards to generate 25 percent of Wisconsin’s fuel from renewable sources by 2025 and sets a realistic goal of a 2 percent annual reduction in energy consumption by 2015. A comprehensive economic assessment of the package found that it would directly create at least 15,000 green jobs in Wisconsin by 2025.

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Renewable energy facts

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources - such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat - which are renewable (naturally replenished).Renewable energy sources are used from ancient history: In 200 B.C., people in China and the Middle East used windmills to pump water and grind grain. Also, old Romans were among the first to use geothermal energy to heat houses.Until

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Legislature needs some energy to pass energy bill

From an editorial in The Journal Times (Racine):

Gov. Jim Doyle doesn’t want to talk about his legacy just yet and wants to get things done, but that’s not likely because the Legislature has largely checked out for the year.

When Doyle presented his State of the State address, and also in a meeting with The Journal Times Editorial Board, he talked about his energy ideas and the need to move Wisconsin and its economy toward a different energy future. He said quite rightly that if the United States had pursued the alternative energy ideas which sprouted in the wake of the Arab oil embargo 37 years ago, we would not today be burdened by gasoline at $3 and $4 a gallon. He also rightly commented that Wisconsin spends billions every year on fuel — money which quickly leaves the state instead of being put to other uses in the local economy.

China and Europe are not standing still, he said, but are pushing into alternative energy technologies. Look at the wind turbines sprouting all over Wisconsin. Many of them bear the logo of Vestas. That’s not a Wisconsin company. It’s a Danish one. The question is whether Wisconsin will join these producers, putting to use its manufacturing base and skilled workers.

But to do any of this, Doyle needs legislators to meet. A newspaper story which followed his State of the State address noted that lawmakers will meet at most a dozen times between now and May. Then they’ll take the rest of the year off for elections and won’t return to the Capitol until January 2011, when the new Legislature will be seated and begin work on the biennial budget.

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Regional transit is key to our economic future

From a blog post on BizTimes by Robert Mariano, chairman and chief executive officer of Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc. in Milwaukee, co-written by Dick Hansen, president and CEO of Johnson Financial Group Inc., Racine:

On behalf of the nearly 7,400 employees we represent, we wish to express the important role regional transportation plays in our economic future. We are committed to ensuring dedicated funding for a balanced regional transit system and encouraging our business colleagues to do the same.

We represent two of southeastern Wisconsin’s largest institutions and provide critical services to thousands of local residents on a daily basis. We understand that a fully-funded transit infrastructure impacts our clients, customers, business, and the economic climate in southeastern Wisconsin. We have hundreds of employees that use buses to get to work every day, however that number continues to decrease as the bus system disintegrates. Continued cuts to the system impair our employees’ ability to get to work and our clients’ and customers’ ability to get critical services and products.

We hope it is clear that we understand firsthand how transit affects our larger community as well as our specific organizations, and we are committed to working with the Legislature to see that a politically and economically sound funding source for transit is implemented in our region during this session.

We are issuing a call to action for our representatives in Madison. We need a truly regional, multi-county, multi-modal regional transit authority including Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee Counties to be immediately focused on improving bus transit throughout the region and advancing the KRM commuter rail project. We must have a dedicated funding mechanism for transit, which must provide property tax relief, restore routes and rescind fare increases to allow for efficient and effective bus operations throughout the region to allow for economic development and regional growth.

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A lot to like about renewable energy

From an editorial in the Kenosha News:

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle and President Barack Obama were talking the same language Wednesday: renewable energy and jobs.

The president was in Washington speaking to a group of governors about his energy policy, which includes spending more money on biofuels such as ethanol.

“It’s good for our national security and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. It’s good for our economy, because it will create jobs.”

Gov. Doyle was in Kenosha, speaking at Gateway Technical College’s Horizon Center.

He said Wisconsin spends $16 billion a year for coal, petroleum and natural gas, money that goes out of the state because Wisconsin doesn’t produce those fuels. If the state used 25 percent of its energy from renewable sources, that would mean $4 billion remains here to boost our economy.

Wisconsin’s wind energy production has been growing for several years. Ethanol also has a lot of promise. So far, most ethanol in Wisconsin is produced from corn, because that was the technology that developed first, but other sources for ethanol continue to develop, including wood products, waste from paper mills and grasses. Wisconsin can produce grass and wood probably a lot easier than many states, and those crops take less energy to produce because the don’t need the cultivation of fertilization corn requires.

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Doyle promotes renewable energy at Gateway Tech

From an article by John Krerowica in the Kenosha News:

Gov. Jim Doyle reiterated support for renewable energy and green, sustainable jobs as he spoke Wednesday at Gateway Technical College in Kenosha.

Doyle told the crowd of about 100 people at the Horizon Center for Technology, 4940 88th Ave., the college and other schools must train students for tomorrow’s technology and equipment.

“We’re moving in a new direction, and vehicles in the future will have increased, complex technology,” he said. “I’m not sure we even know what the cars of 10 to 15 years from now are going to look like, and we’ll need people trained and adaptable to work on those vehicles.”

Doyle has challenged the Legislature to expand the state’s reliance on renewable energy from today’s goal of 10 percent by 2015 to 25 percent by 2025.

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Students visit Kewaunee County wind farm

From Madison Gas and Electric's Greenview site:



This farm field trip has nothing to do with cows or horses. Each year, Kewaunee County students visit a very different kind of farm... the Rosiere Wind Farm.

In this story, see how students react to the giant structures and hear why teachers think the visit is full of important lessons.

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Project would turn Milwaukee trash into energy

From an article by Tom Content in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Trash would be converted into electricity at Project Apollo, a renewable energy project proposed for Milwaukee's north side, developers said Tuesday.

Alliance Federated Energy announced plans to develop a $225 million renewable energy plant that would create 250 construction jobs and 45 full-time jobs. The first phase of the project is expected to be running by 2013.

The plant would use technology developed by Westinghouse Plasma Corp. of Madison, Pa., to convert the waste at high heat into a synthetic gas, or syngas. That, in turn, could be used as a fuel to generate power.

The first phase of the renewable energy facility is expected to process about 1,200 tons of municipal and industrial waste per day. That would generate 25 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power roughly 20,000 typical homes, according to Alliance Federated Energy. A second phase is envisioned that would generate another 25 megawatts of power, company spokesman Josh Morby said.

Alliance is a Milwaukee-based company that focuses on developing and financing renewable energy projects. The company was founded in 2005, and Apollo is its first announced project.

The location of the project hasn't been announced, but the developer is planning to locate in Milwaukee.

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RENEW testifies in support of Clean Energy Jobs Act bill

Michael Vickerman, Josh Stolzenburg (center), owner of North Wind Renewable Energy, LLC, Stevens Point, and a spokesman for Wave Wind, LLC, Sun Prairie, testify in support of the Clean Energy Jobs Act bill before the Special Assembly Committee on Climate Change. Vickerman leans forward to show the committee members a map of renewable energy installations.

From a summary of Michael Vickerman’s (RENEW Wisconsin)
testimony before the Assembly Special Committee on Clean Energy
February 2, 2010:

RENEW Wisconsin strongly supports the provisions in SB450/AB649 to expand the state’s Renewable Energy Standard to 25% by 2025, which includes a 10% in-state renewable energy set-aside. RENEW has evaluated the availability of specific resources to reach that standard and has concluded that meeting such a target is technically feasible. If adopted, the in-state set-aside will become the most powerful engine for job development and capital investment over the next 15 years.

We expect such a requirement to be achieved through a combination of utility-scale power plants and smaller-scale generating units dispersed throughout Wisconsin. With respect to distributed renewable generation, we note the following:

1. The vast majority of the distributed renewable generating units installed in Wisconsin serve schools, dairy farms and other small businesses, churches and local governments.

2. Utilities are not in the business of installing these systems themselves.

3. In many cases the renewable energy installation went forward because there was a special buyback rate available to accelerate the recovery of the original investment made by the customer. Last week, I gave the example of the Dane County community anaerobic digester project that, once operational, will treat manure taken from several nearby dairy farms in the Waunakee area and produce two megawatts of electricity with it. The electricity will be purchased by Alliant Energy through a voluntary biogas tariff worth 9.3 cents/kWh. Unfortunately, Alliant’s biogas program is fully subscribed and is no longer available to other dairy farmers, food processing companies and wastewater treatment facilities served by Alliant.

4. Companies that install solar, wind and biogas energy systems are quintessentially small businesses, many of them family-owned. Renewable energy contractors and affiliated service providers constitute one of the few market sectors where young adults who have acquired the necessary skills to do the job well can find meaningful work at decent pay.

5. By its very nature, distributed renewable energy delivers nearly 100% of its economic punch to the local economy.

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