RENEW says renewable energy can reduce greenhouse gases

From a presentation on July 11, 2012, at a news conference in the state Capitol:

Pathways to Increase Renewable Energy

1. Allow private companies to sell renewable energy to home and building occupants if the renewable system is on private property;
2. Allow fair and uniform net energy billing and interconnection policies;
3. Increase Focus on Energy funding for renewables;
4. Reinstate utility renewable energy commitments;
5. Increase renewable energy requirements.

We Energies Wins Praise for Support of Clean Energy Jobs Act

A news release issued by RENEW Wisconsin:

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2010

MORE INFORMATION
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

We Energies Wins Praise for Support of Clean Energy Jobs Act

A leading renewable energy advocacy group praised Milwaukee-based We Energies for its support of the Clean Energy Jobs Act legislation (Assembly Bill 649).

On Tuesday (April 20), We Energies distributed a memo explaining its support to all members of the state Assembly.

We Energies’ memo followed a similar memo last week from Clean, Responsible Energy for Wisconsin’s Economy (CREWE), a coalition of businesses and utilities supporting the legislation. Other utility members of CREWE are Alliant Energy, Madison Gas & Electric, WPPI Energy, Xcel Energy, and American Transmission Company.

“We Energies deserves praise for stepping out and speaking up on its own,” said Michael Vickerman,” executive director of RENEW Wisconsin.

“We Energies expressed its positive vision for a renewable energy future and the jobs that come with it,” added Vickerman.

The memo from Joel Haubrich, We Energies, said:

We Energies urges support for AB 649.

Throughout the process we have supported moving from our current 10% by 2015 renewable mandate to the 25% by 2025 renewable mandate. It will be a massive effort to meet the requirements in the legislation but we will . . . work to achieve the goal when it becomes law.

Recently, we asked the authors for specific changes to the legislation. On Monday, April 19, we believe we resolved our concerns and now can support the bill.

The changes we believe the authors have agreed to include: 1) incorporating language on “utility rate of return,” 2) removing the ambiguity as to who can perform energy conservation work, 3) allowing efficiency to count from 2016 to 2020 and 4) changing nuclear findings to previously agreed upon language.

We Energies urges support for these amendments and urges support for AB 649. (Emphasis in the original.)

END

RENEW Wisconsin (HUwww.renewwisconsin.orgUH) is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives.

RENEW Wisconsin Backs Amended Clean Energy Jobs Act

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2010

MORE INFORMATION
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

RENEW Backs Amended Clean Energy Jobs Act
The board of directors of RENEW Wisconsin approved, without dissent, the following resolution in support of the amended version of the Clean Energy Jobs Act, according to Michael Vickerman, RENEW’s executive director:

RENEW Wisconsin strongly supports passage of the Clean Energy Jobs Act. While RENEW recognizes that future legislative improve- ments will be needed, it is incumbent upon the State to extend and expand Wisconsin’s commitment to a clean energy infrastructure with associated clean energy job creation.

END
RENEW Wisconsin (www.renewwisconsin.org) is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives.

Costs of coal plants keep going up

For Immediate Release
April 7, 2010

For More Information Contact
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

Costs of coal plants keep going up
In recent weeks, some groups have suggested that we maintain our current energy portfolio, continuing to rely heavily on coal-fired generation for a substantial amount of our electricity. These groups claim that gradually moving toward more reliance on local, in-state sources of energy will increase electricity costs. These claims have been thoroughly discredited by two economic studies concluding that electricity bills will decrease with the Clean Energy Jobs Act.

Further, these groups refuse to acknowledge the substantial, ongoing costs associated with coal plants. Since 1999, Wisconsin utilities have spent over $2 billion of customer money keeping old, inefficient coal plants running. For comparison purposes, this sum is nearly triple the utilities’ investment in windpower facilities during the same period. Customers have seen the real and substantial impact of these coal plant costs through rising electricity rates over the past several years. These costs are in addition to the more than $700 million (exclusive of transportation costs) we send out of state each year to pay for the coal to fuel these aging plants. Reliance on dirty, antiquated coal plants leaves Wisconsin in a vulnerable position, unable to predict or control energy costs.

Unlike coal, clean resources like biogas, wind and solar will produce energy throughout their productive lives without requiring costly pollution abatement measures. Going forward, the more renewable energy we add to Wisconsin’s energy resource mix, the less exposed we will be to these downstream liabilities. The avoidance of these regulatory risks is another compelling reason for passing the Clean Energy Jobs Act legislation in this session.

Coal Plant Retrofit Costs (1999-2009)
(in Millions of Dollars)

Letter to Sen. Miller & Rep. Black on rate impacts of ARTs

February 12, 2010

Senator Mark Miller
State Capitol, Room 317 East
Madison, WI 53707

Representative Spencer Black
State Capitol, Room 210 North
Madison, WI 53708

Dear Senator Miller and Representative Black:

RENEW Wisconsin and our members appreciate the opportunities you created for public input into the Legislature’s deliberations on the Clean Energy Jobs Act legislation. Certainly, the more we can ground public discussion in fact, the better the final outcome.

To that end, 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.

Sincerely,

Michael Vickerman
Executive Director

Clearing up Wisconsin’s lakes with clean energy

A Commentary
by Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin
February 15, 2010

In the next six weeks the Legislature will make a truly momentous decision on the state’s energy future. Either it can embrace an ambitious 15-year commitment to invigorate the state’s economy through sustained investments in clean energy or decide to coast along on current energy policies until they lapse and lose their force and effect.

Arguably the most innovative feature in the Clean Energy Jobs Act, as it’s now called, is a proposed requirement on larger electric providers to acquire locally produced renewable electricity with Advanced Renewable Tariffs (ARTs). These are technology-specific buyback rates that provide a fixed purchase price for the electricity produced over a period of 10 to 20 years, set at levels sufficient to recover installation costs along with a modest profit. Now available in more than a dozen nations in Europe as well as the Province of Ontario, ARTs have proven to be singularly effective in stimulating considerable growth in small-scale production of distributed renewable electricity.

From what we’ve observed, Focus on Energy and federal incentives (the current mix of financial support) are not sufficient to drive significant installation activity when utility buyback rates are pegged to the cost of operating 40-year-old coal plants. It’s unrealistic to assume that a brand-new farm-sized renewable energy system, regardless of the resource used, can compete head-to-head with central station power plants that have been fully amortized.

However, when existing incentives and tax credits are supplemented with an additional source of financial support, such as higher buyback rates, installation activity picks up noticeably.

Consider the much-vaunted Dane County Cow Power Project, which should be operational before the end of the year. Using anaerobic digestion technology, this Waunakee-area installation will treat manure from three nearby dairy farms and produce biogas that will fuel a two-megawatt generator. This community digester project, the first of its kind in Wisconsin, will be built with private capital and a State of Wisconsin award to support a technology that reduces the flow of phosphorus into the Yahara Lakes. A second digester project is also planned for Dane County.

The key element that makes the financing of this project work is the special biogas buyback rate that Alliant Energy, the local utility, voluntarily put in place a year ago. With the higher rate, the project’s return on investment was sufficient to interest outside investors.
Unfortunately, once this initiative reached its predetermined capacity limit, Alliant discontinued the special biogas rate. This complicates matters for future digester installations, in that the other utilities that serve Dane County, including Madison Gas & Electric, do not offer special buyback rates to customers who generate electricity from biogas.

While voluntary initiatives are laudable, they are too small and sporadic in nature to make much of a dent in converting Wisconsin’s organic wastes into energy. Indeed, unless a policy is adopted statewide that requires utilities to increase their purchases of locally generated renewable electricity, there is no guarantee that Dane County will see a second digester project built.

If we are serious about neutralizing the algae blooms that turn the Yahara lakes green each year, we’ll need to adopt a clean energy policy, including ARTs, that facilitates the development of biodigesters in farm country.

Please communicate your support for this bill by writing letters to your state legislators and to your local newspaper. But time is of the essence -- we have only a few more weeks left in this legislative session.

Michael Vickerman is the executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a sustainable energy advocacy organization headquartered in Madison.

Testimony in support of Clean Energy Jobs Act bill

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.

In stark contrast to other states, Wisconsin has a well developed market structure for supporting small-scale renewables. Through the ratepayer-funded Focus on Energy program, there is in Wisconsin a human infrastructure that trains and educates thousands of young people to work in the renewable energy arena. Indeed, Wisconsin is a leader in this area. Our expectation is that these workers will apply their skills in the state, fabricating and installing renewable energy equipment in a thoroughly professional manner.

But if we don’t take equal care to create and sustain demand for their skills and services, these workers are apt to leave the state for greener pastures, and Wisconsin’s investment in their education will have gone unpaid. This is why the issue of Advanced Renewable Tariffs is so important to RENEW members.

One final point: Last week several utility representatives recommended that the Legislature strip out the Advanced Renewables Tariff section. RENEW urges you not to heed their advice. While we would support a reworking of this section, including a program cap to limit rate impacts, we cannot support abandoning this initiative altogether and cannot further support a bill that is silent on policies to advance the distributed energy marketplace. That is a bottom-line priority with us.


Submitted by:
Michael Vickerman
Executive Director
RENEW Wisconsin
February 2, 2010

Hearing on Clean Energy Jobs Act bill trivialized Advanced Renewable Tariffs

January 28, 2010

Senator Jeff Plale
Room 313 South, State Capitol
Madison, WI 53708

Senator Mark Miller
Room 317 East, State Capitol
Madison, WI 53708

Dear Senators Miller and Plale:

Thank you for holding a hearing yesterday of the Select Committee on Clean Energy on SB 450 (the Clean Energy Jobs Act bill). You heard a great deal of substantive commentary about much of the bill, particularly the sections dealing with energy efficiency and the expanded Renewable Energy Standard.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the discussion on the proposal to institute Advanced Renewable Tariffs in Wisconsin. Early in the hearing, a speaker framed the issue as “asking a little old lady in Cudahy to subsidize an expensive system in Mequon.” From that point, the discussion devolved into a kind of semi-orchestrated gang-tackling on this issue that continued unabated until I was called upon to speak, some seven hours and forty five minutes after the hearing began. While RENEW members who work for or with solar, wind and biogas energy installation companies were present during the hearing and had registered to speak, none were called prior to myself. All but two (Full Spectrum Solar and Ed Ritger) had to leave before the hearing ended.

Now, I don’t believe the first speaker, a labor leader, had intended to belittle the companies that install customer-sited renewable energy systems or dismiss their contribution to Wisconsin’s economy and environment. Nevertheless, the “little old lady from Cudahy” theme took a life of its own, and as a result, the very important issues of how to support these systems through utility rates and whether these rates should be mandated had become thoroughly trivialized by the end.

Allow me to repeat some of the points I made at yesterday’s hearing:

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. Yesterday, 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.

In stark contrast to other states, Wisconsin has a well developed market structure for supporting small-scale renewables. Through the ratepayer-funded Focus on Energy program, there is in Wisconsin a human infrastructure that trains and educates thousands of young people to work in the renewable energy arena. Indeed, Wisconsin is a leader in this area. Our expectation is that these workers will apply their skills in the state, fabricating and installing renewable energy equipment in a thoroughly professional manner.

But if we don’t take equal care to create and sustain demand for their skills and services, these workers are apt to leave the state for greener pastures, and Wisconsin’s investment in their education will have gone unpaid. This is why the issue of Advanced Renewable Tariffs is so important to RENEW members.

The question of how to sustain and broaden the distributed generation marketplace is a serious matter that deserves careful consideration by the Legislature. As I mentioned yesterday, RENEW Wisconsin has a wealth of experience and expertise in designing forward-looking renewable energy policies, examples being the Act 141 renewable energy standard and We Energies’ voluntary renewable energy program, the most ambitious and innovative of its kind in the state.

We at RENEW would greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and suggest some alternative approaches in the Advanced Renewable tariffs section that we believe would end the impasse between utilities and clean energy advocates and put the distributed energy sector on a sustainable growth trajectory. We would like very much the opportunity to discuss our alternative approach and provide any assistance you require in forging an acceptable compromise with the utilities.

One final point: yesterday you heard several utilities recommend that the Legislature strip out the Advanced Renewables Tariff section. RENEW urges you not to heed their advice. While we would support a reworking of this section, we cannot support abandoning this initiative altogether and cannot further support a bill that is silent on policies to advance the distributed energy marketplace. That is a bottom-line priority with us.


Sincerely,


Michael Vickerman
Executive Director

RENEW denounces WMC’s “fact-free flip-flop” in radio ad on energy bill

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21, 2010

MORE INFORMATION
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

RENEW denounces WMC’s “fact-free flip-flop” in radio ad on energy bill
RENEW Wisconsin’s Executive Director Michael Vickerman assailed the credibility of a new radio ad launched by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) that characterizes the Clean Energy Jobs Act bill as an unaffordable extravagance.

“WMC executed an astonishing fact-free flip-flop with its claim that the legislation (AB 649/SB 450) would raise an average family’s electricity bill by more than $1,000 a year. What’s astonishing about it that WMC is conveniently forgetting existing ratepayer protections, which it endorsed – and claimed credit for -- when similar legislation passed in 2006,” Vickerman said.

When the state’s current renewable portfolio standard (RPS) was passed (which directed utilities to source 10 percent of their electricity from renewable generation by 2015), WMC ran an article on its website with the headline “’Energy Efficiency and Renewables Act’ Will Protect Ratepayer Dollars.” That article can be accessed at http://www.wmc.org/display.cfm?ID=1256.

The article says that WMC was instrumental in ensuring that “ratepayer groups will have a clear opportunity to seek delays in the implementation of new renewable portfolio standards, should they have an unreasonable effect on electric rates.”

The Clean Energy Job Act bill would continue those ratepayer protections enacted in 2005 Act 141. So far no utility or energy advocacy group has requested an implementation delay under the current renewable energy standard.

In order for an average family’s bill to increase $1,000 a year, according to Vickerman, electric rates would have to double.

“That will never happen because groups like WMC, Citizens Utility Board, and the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group would intervene aggressively on behalf of their member using the existing ratepayer protections,” Vickerman stated.

Since the adoption of Act 141’s renewable energy requirements, Madison Gas and Electric’s residential ratepayers have seen annual increases of only 0.8 percent through 2009, even though the utility is already in compliance with the 2015 standard, added Vickerman.

“This outrageous claim is just another example of WMC’s decision to lob grenades instead of working constructively to forge a responsible partnership with all parties to create family-supporting jobs in the clean energy sector,” Vickerman said.

“It’s clear that WMC made up its mind to oppose the Clean Energy Jobs Act bill long before its contents were even known to the public,” Vickerman stated.

“There is no more obvious proof of this than WMC’s sponsorship of a so-called study by the Wisconsin Pubic Research Institute (WPRI) that claims that the bill’s provisions to expand renewable energy supplies would cost utilities $16 billion.”

RENEW previously critiqued the WPRI report in a report titled “Think Tank Flunks Renewable Energy Analysis.” (http://renewmediacenter.blogspot.com/2009/12/think-tank-flunks-renewable-energy_22.html)

“WPRI’s assertions demonstrate yet again that if you torture your economic models long enough, they will confess to anything,” Vickerman said.

END
RENEW Wisconsin is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives.

Think Tank Flunks Renewable Energy Analysis

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 22, 2009

MORE INFORMATION
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

Madison, WI (December 22, 2009) In response to a recent report from the Wisconsin Public Research Institute (WPRI) concluding that policies to increase renewable energy production would be prohibitively expensive, RENEW Wisconsin, a leading sustainable energy advocacy organization, today issued a critique documenting the faulty assumptions and methodological errors that undermine the credibility of that finding.

WPRI’s report, titled “The Economics of Climate Change Proposals in Wisconsin,” reviewed the proposal in the Governor’s Global Warming Task Force to increase the state’s renewable energy requirements on electric utilities to 25% by 2025, and estimated a total cost in excess $16 billion. RENEW’s analysis, which is online, uncovered a disturbing pattern of “methodological sleight-of-hand, assumptions from outer space, and selective ignoring of facts” that render WPRI’s cost estimate to be completely unreliable.

“It appears that WPRI’s $16 billion number was pulled out of thin air, and that its analysis is nothing more than a tortured effort at reverse-engineering the numbers to fit the preordained conclusion,” said Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin executive director.

Specifically, RENEW identified four significant errors in WPRI’s analytical approach. The critique says:

+ It relies on a grossly inflated electricity sales forecast that is completely detached from current realities.
+ The final cost estimate includes all the generation built to comply with the current renewable energy standard, a clear-cut case of double-counting.
+ The authors fail to account for existing renewable generation capacity that is not currently being applied to a state renewable energy standard.
+ There is a high likelihood that the savings from the renewable energy standard are undervalued, because the authors fail to model plant retirements in their analysis.

“In the final analysis, it would be too generous to describe the analytical approach taken here as incompetent or slipshod,” Vickerman said. “What we have here instead is disinformation, pure and simple, and it should be called out as such, especially as the Legislature begins consideration of arguably the most important economic development and environmental protection initiative in many years.”
END
RENEW Wisconsin (www.renewwisconsin.org) is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives.

RENEW reaffirms support coal plant conversion to wood

From the testimony of Michael Vickerman in support of the installation of a biomass gasification system that would produce biomass-derived synthetic gas (“syngas”) for serving Northern States Power’s Bay Front Unit #5.

We note the following public policy objectives that would be advanced if the proposal submitted by Northern States Power Corporation (“NSPW”) were approved. These objectives include:
1) Meeting Wisconsin’s current Renewable Energy Standard;
2) Eliminating a source of coal-fired power from its system;
3) Using a locally available renewable energy resource;
4) Reducing carbon dioxide emissions and other gaseous pollutants;
5) Maintaining a strong generation source in northern Wisconsin; and
6) Investing Wisconsin capital in a renewable energy generating facility power plant within its borders.

Windpower: A Stabilizing Force in an Economic Downturn

Commentary by
Michael Vickerman
Executive Director, RENEW Wisconsin
June 2, 2009

Much to no one’s surprise, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions fell sharply in 2008 from previous year levels. The U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA), which has been tracking greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, attributes the 2.8% decline to a combination of high energy prices in spring 2008 and the global economic contraction that picked up strength during the second half of the year.

This was certainly the largest year-over-year decline ever reported by the agency. However, even with 2008’s substantial decline, greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. sources have risen 16.9% since 2000. The results, which are preliminary and are likely to be adjusted this fall, can be viewed at http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/flash/flash.html.

The most dramatic reductions occurred in the transportation sector, which fell by more than 5%. Jet fuel consumption is down 9.1%, from this time last year, while demand for diesel fuel consumption is off by 9.9%, reflecting a substantial reduction in truck traffic and rail tonnage. Though it seems like ancient history, the price of diesel fuel on Memorial Day 2008 was $4.72 per gallon, $2.45 higher than current prices.

Even the electric power sector, one of the faster-growing sources of emissions in recent years, was not spared from this trend. According to EIA, about half of the 2.1% reduction in CO2 emissions in the electric power sector can be attributed to declining electricity output. But another contributing factor was the extraordinary growth in installed wind generation capacity last year. A record-shattering 8,500 MW of new wind projects was placed in service in 2008, capping a four-year boom that has nearly quadrupled total installed capacity in the United States.

Bucking the downturn, wind project construction has been one of the very few bright spots in the domestic economy. Nowhere was the pace of activity more feverish than in Iowa, now the No. 2 state in installed wind capacity, trailing only Texas. More than 900 utility-scale turbines started operation in 2008, doubling the state’s wind generating capacity. This year, the Iowa Policy Project expects wind energy to account for 15% of the state’s total generation. In no other state has wind energy penetration even reached double-digit figures.

Last year’s frenetic construction pace is starting to ebb, however, as wholesale electric prices sink to historic lows. As declining demand for electricity exerts downward pressure on coal and natural gas prices, wind energy developers will struggle to attract financing for their projects. Right now, the signals from the power markets strongly discourage new plant construction of any type, be it wind, coal or natural gas.

The pain administered by the economic downdraft has been especially acute at Alliant Energy, whose Wisconsin subsidiary is located in Madison. Having lost two very large customers due to plant closures, including the mammoth General Motors plant in Janesville, Alliant is aggressively cutting costs to prepare for a forecasted 10% decline in sales to industrial customers. These measures include a suspension of contributions to employee 401(k) plans, layoffs affecting all management levels, the closure of redundant power stations and the postponement of planned power plant upgrades.

Ironically, even though it is scaling back operations elsewhere, Alliant’s Wisconsin subsidiary is moving forward with a 200 MW (133 turbine) wind project in southern Minnesota called Bent Tree. If approved, Bent Tree would be the largest wind project owned by a Wisconsin utility.

Alliant’s desire to build Bent Tree is a direct consequence of Wisconsin’s energy policy, the centerpiece of which is a requirement on utilities to increase the renewable energy content of electricity sold to their customers. Between now and 2015, Alliant must acquire additional sources of renewable energy to satisfy that mandate. Given where the economy is headed, Wisconsin’s renewable electricity standard may be the only thing that’s keeping Alliant in the power plant building business.

If Alliant’s windpower plans stay on track, the utility will meet its 2015 target several years in advance. Last December, Alliant commenced operations at its 68 MW (41 turbine) Cedar Ridge plant southeast of Fond du Lac, in the heart of Wisconsin’s wind belt.

Between the nasty economic weather out there and the state’s pro-renewable energy policy, I expect greenhouse gas emissions here to fall even more dramatically in 2009.

Sources:

“Alliant eliminates 60 jobs in state” (May 28, 2009)
“Beloit power plant to shut down by year-end” (May 26, 2009)
“Alliant decisions on plants on hold” (May 24, 2009)
“Like economy, greenhouse has emissions fell in ‘08” (May 22, 2009)
“Rate watch: CEO calls rate hikes ‘most unwelcome’ (May 14, 2009)
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/business/pluggedin.html (Tom Content’s blog for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)


Michael Vickerman is the executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a sustainable energy advocacy organization headquartered in Madison. For more information on what Wisconsin is doing to advance sustainable energy, visit RENEW’s web site at: www.renewwisconsin.org and RENEW’s blog at: http://renewwisconsinblog.org. RENEW also operates Madison Peak Oil Group’s blog: http://www.madisonpeakoil-blog.blogspot.com

RENEW, Farmers Union, and partners launch Homegrown Renewable Energy Campaign

For immediate release: December 3, 2008

For More Information Contact:
Adrienne Joseph or Sue Beitlich
715-723-5561/715-379-2712 or 608-769-7625
wfuadriennej@charterinternet.com or wfusueb@charter.net

WFU and partners announce launch of Homegrown Renewable Energy Campaign
Madison, Wis. (December 3, 2008) – Wisconsin Farmers Union officials gathered at the Wisconsin State Capitol today to announce the launch of the Homegrown Renewable Energy Campaign. WFU and its campaign partners laid out four state policy initiatives that will address the challenge of global climate change.

“The Wisconsin agriculture and forestry industries are essential to expanding a renewable energy economy in our state,” said Sue Beitlich, WFU president. “Renewable energy will help us to achieve greater energy and economic security, create new jobs, strengthen agricultural markets and reduce carbon emissions.”

Building on Gov. Jim Doyle’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and expand renewable energy, and the recommendations of his Global Warming Task Force, WFU along with Clean Wisconsin, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute and RENEW Wisconsin, have developed a campaign to support the following initiatives to expand energy and heat production from biomass:

• Create the Biomass Energy Crop Reserve Program, establishing 10-year contracts to pay landowners in exchange for planting bioenergy crops that are energy efficient and preserve natural resources.
• Expand Renewable Fuels for Schools and Communities by setting up funding sources for those who would like to purchase equipment for biomass systems that replace fossil fuel and save tens of thousands of dollars in fuel savings.
• Launch a Renewable Energy Buyback Program that will fairly compensate small-scale renewable energy producers who generate renewable electricity (biomass, solar, wind and hydro).
• Encourage the establishment of a Low-Carbon Fuel Standard to reduce carbon intensity of transportation fuels.

“These policies taken together not only create more jobs on Wisconsin’s farms and their rural communities but could also reduce global warming emissions by 6 to 7 million tons per year, equivalent to taking 600,000 cars off of Wisconsin’s roads,” said Keith Reopelle, Senior Policy Director for Clean Wisconsin.

“Wisconsin's natural resources, employment opportunities and energy security can greatly benefit from a renewable, bio-based economy,” said Margaret Krome, Policy Director for Michael Fields Agricultural Institute. “However, we need strong policies to jump start this new economy and ensure that it will be accessible by all and sustainable.”

The four partners along with endorsing organizations, Organic Valley, Agrecol Corp., the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, Marth Wood Products, the Wisconsin Biodiesel Association, Green Diesel Wisconsin Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education, Midwest Renewable Energy Association and the Partners in Forestry Landowners Cooperative, are continuing to ask organizations and individuals for their support of the campaign. For more information, the public can visit www.wisconsinfarmersunion.com.END
Wisconsin Farmers Union, a member-driven organization, is committed to enhancing the quality of life for family farmers, rural communities and all citizens through educational opportunities, cooperative endeavors and civic engagement.