DOT to hold rail-station workshops in Brookfield, Oconomowoc

From an article in BizTimes Daily:The state Department of Transportation will host community workshops next week to discuss the location for the proposed Oconomowoc and Brookfield high speed rail train stations.The Oconomowoc workshop is scheduled from 4:30-7:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 2, at Nature Hill Intermediate School, 850 Lake Dr., Oconomowoc.The Brookfield workshop is scheduled from 4:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 3, at the Brookfield Elementary School, 2530 N. Brookfield Road, Brookfield.At the workshops, DOT and consultant staff will be available to discuss the proposed train station sites. The DOT says its staff are also interested in hearing from the community on issues of concern to them as planning and environmental studies for the station get underway. The team developing the final...

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LaHood, Doyle say there's no derailing high-speed rail line

From an article by Larry Sandler in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:Watertown - U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Gov. Jim Doyle on Thursday portrayed a planned Milwaukee-to-Madison high-speed rail line as an unstoppable train that Republican gubernatorial candidates can't derail."High-speed rail is coming to Wisconsin," LaHood said. "There's no stopping it.LaHood was in Watertown to sign an agreement to release $46.7 million of the $810 million in federal stimulus money that Wisconsin is receiving to build the 110-mph line.That's the second installment, after a previous $5.7 million payment.Republican gubernatorial candidates Scott Walker and Mark Neumann have threatened to shut down construction on the line if they're elected, saying they don't want taxpayers burdened by operating...

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Doing it cleaner

From an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:We Energies' Valley power plant is a vital link serving the region's energy needs. That doesn't mean it can't run cleaner.We Energies' coal-fired Valley power plant isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Nor should it. The plant - about a mile south of downtown Milwaukee in the Menomonee River Valley - meets a vital need in the utility's energy network and plays a unique role among power plants by producing steam to heat many downtown buildings, helping to keep heating costs stable.But it is time to clean up the plant and bring it into the 21st century. We Energies is working on that, but anything the utility can do to expedite the process would be helpful. What that will mean is either switching to a new kind of fuel - natural gas - or adding...

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Seats still available on the Fond du Lac energy efficiency and renewable energy tour

From a news release issued by US-Cooperative Extension, Fond du Lac County: The public is invited to attend a Local Energy Tour on Saturday, July 31st from 8:30 am - noon organized by the Fond du Lac County and the Green Lake County UW-Extension offices. Fond du Lac County businesses have made this area a unique place to learn about cutting edge energy technologies, and the tour allows participants a chance to see these technologies in action and learn what difference they are making in the financial, environmental, and social bottom lines of these companies. Participants will also discuss the land use consequences of energy production and ways to minimize the negative consequences and maximize the economic benefits.This guided bus tour will visit: • Mercury Marine • Wildlife Acres subdivision...

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Wisconsin creating jobs, harnessing wind power

From a news release issued by the Department of Workforce Development:TOWN of MENASHA – Department of Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman said today Governor Doyle’s investments in Wisconsin’s clean energy future are showing gains in manufacturing, job opportunities, a cleaner environment, and a more energy independent Wisconsin.“Under Governor Doyle’s leadership, Wisconsin is harnessing the wind to power economic growth, creating clean energy jobs,” Secretary Gassman said. “As the economy improves from a deep national recession, the steps Wisconsin has taken to encourage efficiency and renewable energy will continue to pay dividends in the long term.”Secretary Gassman highlighted Governor Doyle’s successful clean energy efforts during a visit to SCA Tissue. At SCA’s Service Excellence...

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High speed rail informattional meeting, July 22, Milwaukee Public Market

From an article by on BizTimes.com:The public is invited to a “brown bag lunch” to learn about the economic benefits of high-speed rail at informal hearing by the Midwest High Speed Rail Association at the Milwaukee Public Market on Thursday, July 22, at noon.In January, the federal government awarded $823 million to Wisconsin to develop the Milwaukee-to-Madison high speed rail system, with $810 million earmarked for upgrading existing rail lines and constructing stations.The state Department of Transportation is already moving forward with contracts for upgrading the existing rail lines between Milwaukee and Madison to accommodate high speed passenger trains.“The high-speed rail infrastructure is becoming a reality, and with that will come economic development that could create thousands...

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Couple Nurtures Green Living in Walworth County

From a story by Susan Bence on WUWM radio, Milwaukee:Catherine McQueen and Fritz Kreiss describe themselves as partners in life and business, who decided to put their money where their green talk is. I’m invited to their home to see for myself. You drive into their five acres – it’s a former mink farm – through lush trees. A circle drive pulls you into their brightly white-painted home, surrounded by perennial beds. Then WHAM, you spot the 50 kilowatts wind turbine throwing giant shadows along a line of trees. Fritz says they’re goal is to use no more energy than they consume. They seem to be off to a good start. “The 50 KW is about enough electricity for 15 homes,” Fritz says. When the couple transplanted from Illinois five years ago and took on the fixer-upper, Catherine says they weren’t...

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Milwaukee County rolls out 90 clean diesel buses

From an article by Sharif Durhams in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:Milwaukee County's bus system unveiled on Wednesday the first of 90 new buses purchased to replace those in its aging fleet.The clean diesel buses cost a total of nearly $33 million. About half of that money came from the federal stimulus package.Milwaukee County plans to buy 35 more buses in 2011, according to MC...

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We Energies' Valley plant operates under more lenient standards

From an article by Tom Content and Lee Bergquist in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:Many old coal-fired power plants are shutting down or being upgraded, but Valley escapes changeMany of Wisconsin's oldest coal-fired power plants are shutting down or are being upgraded as regulators tighten standards to improve air quality.But We Energies' Valley plant - with its twin 400-foot smokestacks that tower over the High Rise Bridge a mile south of downtown Milwaukee - is a glaring exception.The utility has avoided installing costly pollution controls by capitalizing on the plant's age, its unique role in producing steam to heat many downtown buildings and a court settlement with environmental regulators.Valley is We Energies' oldest power plant that lacks modern emission controls. As a result, it...

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The Oil Spill and You

From a commentary by Michael Vickerman:Commentaryby Michael Vickerman, RENEW WisconsinJuly 12, 2010About 100 people gathered in downtown Madison in early July to take part in “Hands Across the Sands,” an internationally organized protest against continued oil drilling in and along the world’s coastal waters. Against the backdrop of the weed-choked waters of Lake Monona, they joined hands for 15 minutes to express their fervent desire to see a cleaner, less destructive energy future emerge from the liquid melanoma spreading across the Gulf of Mexico.No doubt the protestors would like to do more, much more, than simply engage in ritualized protest in front of a few camera crews. But we live in a society that is organized around the expectation of a limitless supply of nonrenewable hydrocarbons...

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Manitowoc wind tower maker plans to hire 60 workers

From an article by Charlie Mathews in the Manitow Hearld Times Reporter:MANITOWOC — Paul Smith is excited to hang a "Jobs Open" sign at Tower Tech's manufacturing plant on the Manitowoc River peninsula.With two major new contracts, the wind tower company's chief operating officer said about 60 people will be hired in the next month, increasing the work force to more than 200."It feels pretty good to bring some individuals back from layoff, as well as hire new to do welding, painting, blasting and assembling," said Smith.The recession hit the wind industry hard, but contracts awarded in late June and this week to supply 265-foot, 200-ton towers for Danish-based Vestas and Spanish firm Gamesa Technology Corp. will keep the Manitowoc plant operating at full capacity for the next year."Our people...

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Wind stakeholders cite uniformity as key to more projects

From a news release issued by RENEW Wisconsin:Collectively drawing upon the individual roadblocks that developers experienced in permitting wind energy projects in Wisconsin, a group of renewable energy stakeholders urged the Public Service Commission to adopt standards that can’t be undermined by additional restrictions imposed by local governments. The comments, submitted on behalf of 38 signatories, addressed the draft siting rule published by the Commission in mid-May. The draft rule proposed standards applicable to all wind energy systems -- large and small -- erected in Wisconsin. In the next phase of this proceeding, the Commission will review the public comments before issuing a final rule in August. The rule will specify, among other things, setback distances from neighbors, sound...

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Will we create a grid smart enough for the 21st century?

As daylight fades, Manhattan continues to gorge on power. New York City is tied to fuels like natural gas, with less than one percent of its electricity coming from wind or solar.From an article by Joel Achenbach in National Geographic, with photos by Joe McNally Can we fix the infrastructure that powers our lives?We are creatures of the grid. We are embedded in it and empowered by it. The sun used to govern our lives, but now, thanks to the grid, darkness falls at our con­venience. During the Depression, when power lines first electrified rural America, a farmer in Tennessee rose in church one Sunday and said—power companies love this story—"The greatest thing on earth is to have the love of God in your heart, and the next greatest thing is...

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Support for new rail transit systems dips below 50%

From an article by Larry Sandler of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:But expansion of I-94 finds increased supportSupport for new rail transit systems has dipped below 50% in the Milwaukee area, while I-94 expansion receives stronger backing but still falls just short of a majority, according to a recent poll.At the same time, The People Speak Poll found majority support throughout the four-county area for a new half-cent sales tax in Milwaukee County only to fund the county's transit system, despite skepticism about empowering a regional transit authority to levy a broader sales tax.The Public Policy Forum's People Speak Poll is a tracking poll, designed to follow changes in public opinion on key local issues over time. The latest telephone poll of 386 residents in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee...

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Oconomowoc among communities reaching energy independence

From a news release issued by Governor Jim Doyle on the success of the ten communities in Energy Independent (EI) Pilot -- Brown County; Chequamegon Bay (including the cities of Ashland, Bayfield and Washburn, the towns of Bayfield and La Pointe, the counties of Ashland and Bayfield, the Red Cliff tribe and the Bay Area Regional Transit authority); Columbus; Evansville; Fairfield; Marshfield; Oconomowoc; Osceola, including the school district; Platteville and Lancaster; Spring Green, including the school district:MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle today announced ten Energy Independent (EI) Pilot Communities are well on their way toward achieving “25 x 25” – getting 25 percent of their electricity and 25 percent of their transportation fuels from renewable sources by 2025.“Through the EI Pilot program...

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New wind turbine produces energy, training opportunities at Lakeshore Tech College

A 50 kW Entegrity wind turbine is installed May 26 on Lakeshore Technical College’s Cleveland campus. The turbine was made operable June 8 and is visible from I-43.From a news release issued by Lakeshore Technical College:A second wind turbine is up and running on Lakeshore Technical College's Cleveland campus, providing additional opportunities for student training and field testing, as well as energy savings for the college.The 120-foot, 50 kW Entegrity turbine is located just northwest of the LTC Flexible Training Arena. It was installed May 26 with the help of Seventh Generation Energy Systems, and was made operable June 8 following final interconnection tests and inspections by We Energies.The Entegrity is expected to produce between 75,000...

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