Alliant won't close Sheboygan coal plant

From a story by Doug Carroll in the Sheboygan Press:

Alliant Energy's plans to shut down one of three coal-fired generators at its Sheboygan power plant have been scrapped in the wake of Tuesday's rejection of the company's proposal to build a new facility in southwestern Wisconsin.

Unit 3 at the Edgewater Generating Station in Sheboygan had been scheduled to be closed by 2013, but it will stay up now, according to Alliant spokesman Rob Crain. The generator, built in 1951, is Alliant's oldest coal-fired plant in the state.

Three state regulators voted unanimously Tuesday to deny Alliant's plan to build a coal-fired plant at its Nelson Dewey Generating Station property in Cassville, in Grant County. The $1.26 billion cost and concerns over future carbon-dioxide regulations were cited as factors in the decision.

"The proposal before the Public Service Commission was contingent upon the approval of Norton Dewey," Crain said. "Given our needs, we'll continue to use Edgewater (Unit) 3."

State panel rejects proposed coal-fired power plant

From a story by Anita Weier in The Capital Times:

The state Public Service Commission on Tuesday unanimously rejected a proposed 300-megawatt mostly coal-fired power plant proposed by Wisconsin Power & Light at Cassville.

In justifying their decision, commissioners cited the cost, inefficiency and carbon dioxide emissions of the plant.

"Based on the evidence, I find this particular project is not in the public interest," said PSC Chairman Eric Callisto.

"Public comment was really significant," said Commissioner Mark Meyer, praising the extent of public participation after he stated that he could not support the application because it did not meet fundamental requirements.

Commissioner Lauren Azar said the proposal would lock the state into a coal technology that may soon be obsolete.

There's No Such Thing as a Free Ride(r)

Click for the full documents of the presentations:

Thoughts on Net-to-gross by John Reed

Notes on NTG Issues - Update by Ralph Prahl

Energy Efficiency and The Specter of Free-Ridership by Stephen Heins

Free-Ridership Measurement_WI AESP 110508 by Jane Peters

Net Slides for AESP Workshop in Madison by Nick Hall

Measurable, Meaningful, and Motivational Metrics by Mimi Goldberg

Obama's plan to reduce energy use and lower costs

From the energy plan of President-elect Barack Obama:

Commitment to Efficiency to Reduce Energy Use and Lower Costs

According to the United Nations, America is only the 22nd most energy efficient country among the major economies in the world, which means we spend more on energy than we need to because our lifestyle and our built environment are wasting too much excess energy. Since 1973, the average amount of electricity each of us uses has tripled. We can do better. An Obama administration will strive to make America the most energy efficient country in the world.

• Deploy the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Energy SourceEnergy Efficiency. The Department of Energy (DOE) projects that demand for electricity will increase by 1.1 percent per year over the next few decades. Cutting this demand growth through efficiency is both possible and economically sound. Barack Obama will set an aggressive energy efficiency goal—to reduce electricity demand 15 percent from DOE’s projected levels by 2020. Implementing this program will save consumers a total of $130 billion, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 5 billion tons through 2030, and create jobs. A portion of this goal would be met by setting annual demand reduction targets that utilities would need to meet. The rest would come from more stringent building and appliance standards. . . .

• Flip Incentives to Energy Utilities. An Obama administration will “flip” incentives to utility companies by: requiring states to conduct proceedings to implement incentive changes; and offering them targeted technical assistance. These measures will benefit utilities for improving energy efficiency, rather than just from supporting higher energy consumption. This “regulatory equity” starts with the decoupling of profits from increased energy usage, which will incentivize utilities to partner with consumers and the federal and state governments to reduce monthly energy bills for families and businesses. The federal government under an Obama administration will play an important and positive role in flipping the profit model for the utility sector so that shareholder profit is based on reliability and performance as opposed to total production.

• Invest in a Smart Grid. Achieving these aggressive energy efficiency goals will require significant innovation in the way we transmit electricity and monitor its use. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will pursue a major investment in our national utility grid using smart metering, distributed storage and other advanced technologies to accommodate 21st century energy requirements: greatly improved electric grid reliability and security, a tremendous increase in renewable generation and greater customer choice and energy affordability. They will establish a Grid Modernization Commission to facilitate adoption of Smart Grid practices across the nation's electricity grid to the point of general adoption and ongoing market support in the U.S. electric sector. They will instruct the Secretary of Energy to: (1) establish a Smart Grid Investment Matching Grant Program to provide reimbursement of one‐fourth of qualifying Smart Grid investments; (2) conduct programs to deploy advanced techniques for managing peak load reductions and energy efficiency savings on customer premises from smart metering, demand response, distributed generation and electricity storage systems; and (3) establish demonstration projects specifically focused on advanced technologies for power grid sensing, communications, analysis, and power flow control, including the integration of demand‐side resources into grid management.

We Energies seeks approval of renewable energy plan

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

We Energies asked state regulators Wednesday to approve a plan, projected to cost up to $69 million, to help it comply with a state mandate to boost the state's supply of renewable energy by 2015.

The Milwaukee-based utility company wants the state ruling to give it flexibility to buy wind turbines and acquire potential wind farm sites well before the Public Service Commission approves a wind power project. Customers would not be billed until after the wind power projects are built.

State law requires utilities to add more renewable energy projects so 10% of the state's electricity comes from wind turbines and other renewable power sources by 2015. That will require at least three major wind power projects in addition to the one We Energies already has opened and one that it hopes to build by 2012, the utility said.

Last week, the utility asked the commission to approve Glacier Hills Wind Park, which would generate up to 200 megawatts in Columbia County at a cost of up to $530 million. Depending on the size of the project, Glacier Hills would generate enough electricity to power up to 45,000 typical homes.

The utility projects it will need to spend $45 million in down payments or reservation fees for wind turbines and $21 million for sites for renewable energy projects.

A consumer group said commission rules already allow the utility to recoup costs associated with building wind power projects, and that there is no need for state regulators to approve We Energies' proposal.

"This is an unneeded insurance policy that could put ratepayers at jeopardy for unreasonable costs," said Charlie Higley, executive director of the Wisconsin Citizens' Utility Board.

The utility also projects spending up to $3 million on a study to examine the feasibility of building a 20-megawatt wind power demonstration project on Lake Michigan.

Alliant pays premium for customer-generated solar electricity

From an article by Jeremiah Tucker in The Sauk Prairie Eagle:

The primary reason Stan Temple is installing a large solar-panel unit outside his home is environmental.

"It's the right thing to do," Temple said.

But after that, it's all about the green — and he doesn't mean energy.

Originally, Temple and his wife, Jane Rundell, were going to install the panels before Dec. 31 when a federal tax credit for solar energy was scheduled to expire.

But when Congress passed the Wall Street bailout package last month a rider was added that extended the 30 percent tax credit for eight years and removed its $2,000 cap.

"If your tax burden don't exceed that amount, you'll get a refund," Temple said.

Now Temple is waiting to activate his solar panels until Jan. 1 in order to take advantage of the new legislation.

After the federal tax credit, Temple also will receive a credit from Wisconsin's Focus on Energy program that provides financial incentives for installing renewable energy sources.

And because of a deal he struck with Alliant Energy, he won't even be using the panels to power his home.

"Alliant will buy my solar power for 25 cents per kilowatt hour, and I pay 11," Temple said.

Alliant now joins MG&E and We Energies in paying a premium rate for customer-generated solar electricity.

Energy efficiency training in Eau Claire and La Crosse, Dec. 2-3

From the Energy Center of Wisconsin:

Energy Center University is offering an outstanding training, Energy Efficiency: Continuous Improvement for Continuous Savings, December 2, 2008 in Eau Claire and December 3, 2008 in La Crosse that focuses on reducing energy use and cost.

Participants will learn about common solutions applicable to commercial, industrial and institutional facilities that save energy, get tips on how to implement an energy management plan for continuous savings and much more.

The program is presented by C. Thomas Tucker, P.E., Founder of Kinergetics LLC in Madison. His professional experience includes process optimization, heat recovery system analysis and design, evaluation of renewable energy applications, combined heat and power assessment, and the technical and economic feasibility of new technologies.

This half-day workshop is designed for facilities managers, energy managers, architects, engineers, designers, contractors and others interested in reducing energy use in their facility.

Form more information, please visit http://www.ecw.org/efficiency.