MGE points to benefits of energy conservation

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

Madison Gas & Electric customers may have more electrical devices plugged in at their homes, but they are using 6 percent less energy, on average, than five years ago.

“That’s huge,” said Greg Bollom, assistant vice president for energy planning.

As a result, MGE has pared its projected electricity needs for 2015 by 10 percent. Since the early 1980s, conservation by the utility’s customers has saved MGE the equivalent of the need for a new power plant comparable to its 225-megawatt share of the Columbia power plant near Portage, Bollom said.

“The pace of conservation and energy efficiency has really, really picked up,” he said.

Just by switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs and an energy-efficient furnace, “your benefits start to accumulate,” MGE spokesman Steve Kraus said.

With the support of customers who have signed up to pay more for renewable energy, MGE has contracted to buy power from three more wind farms over the past five years, raising its access to wind-generated electricity from 11 megawatts to 138 megawatts. The Madison utility company also expanded the use of solar power and now has 140 customers with solar panels on their homes or businesses, sending power onto the grid of transmission lines that carry electricity around the state.