More information
RENEW Wisconsin
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

Small Businesses Request Resumption of Renewable Energy Support

Over 150 small businesses, organizations, schools, and local officials appealed to the Public Service Commission (PSC) to restore full funding for a nationally recognized renewable energy program that reduces the cost of solar, wind, and biomass installations for Wisconsin utility customers.

In an open letter delivered to the PSC yesterday, the signers asked the PSC to “to exercise its oversight authority over Focus on Energy and restore funding, without delay, for renewables at a level consistent with previous years’ allocations.”

The impetus for the open letter arose from RENEW Wisconsin’s Energy Policy Summit held two weeks ago in Madison.  At the summit, the 140 people who participated asked RENEW to make Focus on Energy funding restoration its highest policy priority for 2012.

Focus on Energy suspended its support for customer-sited renewable energy systems last July, when rising demand for renewables outstripped available funds.  The program administrator said that incentives will be resumed later this year, but no firm timeline has been set.

“This problem needs to be fixed as expeditiously as possible before the funding interruption permanently damages Wisconsin’s renewable energy marketplace,” said Michael Vickerman, Executive Director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide, nonprofit renewable energy advocacy organization.

“A number of renewable energy installers and contractors are already feeling the effects of the funding hiatus, and the result is less new hiring and potential layoffs down the road.  However, we remain optimistic that once funding is restored renewable energy development will once again become a dynamic economic sector and a source of new jobs here in Wisconsin,” said Vickerman.

An Open Letter to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
January 30, 2012

In 2002, the State of Wisconsin began offering incentives from Focus on Energy to encourage tangible and significant savings with the implementation of distributed renewable energy systems. By employing a small fraction of the funds available to Focus on Energy for this purpose, the vast majority of customer-sited solar, wind, biogas and biomass projects now operating in Wisconsin received critical financial support. In under 10 years, Focus on Energy succeeded in building an in-state marketplace that supported steady growth of new businesses and jobs in manufacturing, distributing, designing, installing and servicing renewable energy systems. It is no exaggeration to say that the renewable energy program run by Focus on Energy was a nationally recognized as a model for other states to follow.

It’s a very different picture today. For the first time since 2002, Wisconsin business and residential customers entered the new year without a functioning statewide renewable energy program in place. Focus on Energy said that it intends to resume offering incentives for renewables later this year, but has not set a timeline for restoration of funding or services. Nor is there any information available as to whether the renewable products and services supported in the past will be supported again, and, if so, at what levels. What was a successful engine for advancing small-scale renewables in Wisconsin is now, for frustrated businesses and customers alike, a source of vague assurances and little else.

Unfortunately, the ongoing lack of support and uncertainty is guaranteed to cause layoffs and business cutbacks.  Furthermore, it is contrary to state law, which specifies that Focus on Energy support customer use of renewable energy as well as energy efficiency. Without the products and services to fuel the renewable market, 2012 will usher in a period of contraction that portends significant declines in installations, accelerated job losses, and increased business migration to markets in other states.

In our view, the most economically efficient way to transition Wisconsin to a sustainable energy future is to pair an aggressive conservation and efficiency program with products and services that increase the market drivers for on-site renewable energy production. Both approaches mutually reinforce each other while delivering economic benefits to customers. Adopting energy efficiency enables customers to reduce the size of their renewable energy investments, and on-site renewables allow customers to lower all or part of their energy bills going forward.

We support the conclusions reached by Commissioner Eric Callisto regarding the economic returns to ratepayers and the public generated by Focus on Energy’s programs. As part of a recent proceeding on Focus on Energy, Commissioner Callisto wrote:

Focus programs save energy, help offset the need for new power generation, lower utility bills, create jobs, reduce fossil fuel emissions, and support broad-based economic development in Wisconsin. And in study after study, it is shown that these benefits are produced at a ratio that far exceeds program costs. As the LAB report points out, the benefit-cost ratio for Focus programs is as high as 7.2 to 1, when taking into account economic metrics like job creation and increased business sales. That is more than seven dollars in benefit to Wisconsin for every dollar invested. http://psc.wi.gov/apps35/ERF_view/viewdoc.aspx?docid=158228

The impressive payback from Focus on Energy is sufficient reason for restoring the renewable energy funding that had been a key feature of that program. Given the near certainty of rising electric rates as the price of delivered coal continues to climb, as coal pollution equipment is mandated to meet new regulations, and to pay for new transmission, we cannot afford any more backsliding by not supporting in-state, distributed renewables. The ongoing funding hiatus for renewables is inconsistent with state law. The Commission has a responsibility to fix this problem immediately, before the lack of support for renewables permanently damages Wisconsin’s renewable energy marketplace. We the undersigned call upon the Public Service Commission to exercise its oversight authority over Focus on Energy and restore funding, without delay, for renewables at a level consistent with previous years’ allocations.

Sincerely,

John Ahles
Solar System Owner
Neenah, WI

Jeff Anthony
American Wind Energy Association
Milwaukee, WI

Steve Arndt, Director of Facilities Management
UW-Oshkosh
Oshkosh, WI

Michael Arney
Green Neighbor, Inc.
Wauwatosa, WI

Peter Bakken, Public Policy Coordinator
Wisconsin Council of Churches
Sun Prairie, WI

Rich Bannen, Owner
Prairie Solar Power & Light
Prairie du Chien, WI

Bruce Barker, President
Chippewa Valley Technical College
Eau Claire, WI

Barb Basaj
SunSpe, LLC
Milwaukee, WI

David Behnke-Seper
First Affirmative Financial Network
Chili, WI

Rick Bergman
Aquilo Wind Development
Glendale, WI

Oscar Bloch
Arboretum Co-Housing
Madison, WI

Hans Jr. and Katie Breitenmoser
Breitenmoser Family Farms
Merrill, WI

Thomas Brown, Architect
Stevens Point, WI

Brent Brucker, General Manager
Helios Solar Works
Milwaukee, WI

Justin Castleman
Castleman & Sons Plumbing
Franklin, WI

Chris Collins, Marketing Director
H&H Solar Energy Services
Madison, WI

Becky Comeau
Southwest Community Biofuels
LaFarge, WI

Lisa Conley, President
Town and Country RC&D
Jefferson, WI

Lisa Daniels, Executive Director
Windustry
Minneapolis, MN

Mark Dawson
Sand Creek Solar
Amherst, WI

Susan De Vos
Madison Area Bus Advocates
Madison, WI

Tom DeBates, Owner
Habi-Tek
Geneva, IL

Michael Dearing, Owner
Driftless Solar
Spring Green, WI

Trang Donovan
Unlimited Renewable Energies
Prairie du Sac, WI

Thomas Duffy, President
Commercial Air, Inc.
Madison, WI

Jeff Ehlers, President
Renewegy LLC
Oshkosh, WI

Jim Erdman
Solar Electric and Small Wind Certified Site Assessor
Menomonie, WI

James Erickson, Owner
Antech Properties
Janesville, WI

Brian Evans, Production Manager
Associated Housewrights
Madison, WI

Jerry Eyler, Executive Dean
Fox Valley Technical College
Appleton, WI

Randy Faller, Owner
Kettle View Renewable Energy
Random Lake, WI

Jay Farnsworth, Teacher
Waunakee School District
Waunakee, WI

Pete Flesch, Chair,
Crawford County Board of Supervisors
Prairie du Chien, WI

Scott Freier
Freiers Electric and Heating
Ellsworth, WI

Greg Fritsch, CEO
Clean Energy North America
Glendale, WI

Jim Funk, Owner
Energize LLC
Winneconne, WI

Mark Furst
Grading Spaces LLC
Fort Atkinson, WI

Rex Gillespie
Wisconsin Solar Energy Industries
Madison, WI

David Goepfert, President
Thermal Design, Inc.
Stoughton, WI

Grant Grinstead
Northern Biogas
Fond du Lac, WI

David Hansen, Owner
Lake Country Energy
Oconomowoc, WI

Daniel Harkins, Manager
Trantow Properties LLC
Stoughton, WI

Ryan Harkins, Project Manager
Synergy Renewable Systems LLC
Stoughton, WI

Michael Harvey
Able Electric Co.
River Falls, WI

Mark Heffernan, President
CBT Wear Parts, Inc.
Bio-Products Engineering Corp.

Richland Center, WI
Charlie Higley, Executive Director
Citizens Utility Board
Madison, WI

John Hippensteel, President
Lake Michigan Wind and Sun
Sturgeon Bay, WI

Lou Host-Jablonski, Architect
Design Coalition
Madison, WI

John Imes, Executive Director
Wisconsin Environmental Initiative
Madison, WI

Greg Jahnke, Manager, Renewable Energy
Pieper Electric
Milwaukee, WI

Micah James, General Manager
Energycraft Synergy Systems, LLC
Stoughton, WI

Jennifer Jenkins, Executive Director
Distributed Wind Energy Association
Flagstaff, AZ

Brad Johnson, Director, Business Development
Green Sky Energetics
Manitowoc, WI

James Jozwiak
Black Magic Organics
Spencer, WI

Andrea Kaminski
League of Women Voters Wisconsin Education Network
Madison, WI

Roger Kanitz
ECOS – Fox Valley
Menasha, WI

James Kerbel
Photovoltaic Systems LLC
Amherst, WI

Duane Kexel
Duane Kexel Consulting
Madison, WI

Chris Klein
Town of Dayton
Waupaca, WI

Joe Klein
Applied Plastics
Oak Creek, WI

Mark Klein
Gimme Shelter Construction
Amherst, WI

Richard Klemme, Dean and Director
UW Extension – Cooperative Extension
Madison, WI

Randy Knox
Solar PV System Owner
Whitewater, WI

Jeff Knutson, Owner
A-A Exteriors, com
Waupaca, WI

Kurt Koepp, Manager
Hot Water Products
Milwaukee, WI

Fritz Kreiss
Community Green Energy LLC, Lake Geneva, WI
Eco-Vision Sustainable Learning Center, Inc., Lake Geneva, WI

Green Leaf Inn LLC, Delavan, WI
Larry Krom, Principal
L&S Technical Associates
Spring Green, WI

Christopher LaForge, Owner
Great Northern Solar
Port Wing, WI

Alicia Leinberger, Marketing and Development Manager
Seventh Generation Energy Systems
Madison, WI

Jesse Lerner
Sustain Dane
Madison, WI

Doug Lindsey
Lakeshore Technical College – Energy Education Center
Cleveland, WI

Timothy Linn, Partner/Builder
Edge Grain LLC
Milwaukee, WI

Vicki Lipinski, Marketing and Sales Coordinator
Procorp Enterprises
Milwaukee, WI

Jeanne Lisse
Madison Computer Works
Madison, WI

Mark Lydon
Artisan Energy LLC
Marshall, WI

Randy Mader
Faith Technologies
Sun Prairie, WI

Tom Martin, CEO
Convergence Energy
Lake Geneva, WI

Neil Matthes
Duck Creek Engineering, Inc.
Helenville, WI

Nick Matthes
Midwest Photovoltaics, Inc.
Milwaukee, WI

Heather McCombs
Wisconsin Green Building Alliance
Milwaukee, WI

Natalie McIntire
enMac Energy Consulting
Viroqua, WI

Christine Merritt, Ph.D
TAPCO – Traffic and Parking Control, Inc.
Brown Deer, WI

Eric Meyer
Werner Electric Wisconsin
Neenah, WI

Jesse Michalski
Eland Electric Corporation
Green Bay, WI

Randy Moberg
Werner Electric Minnesota
Cottage Grove, MN

Gerd Muehllehner
Retgen Solar LLC
North Freedom, WI

Ingrid Nahm
Appleton Solar
Appleton, WI

Dan Nemke
US Biogas LLC
Mequon, WI

Andy Olsen
Environmental Law & Policy Center
Madison, WI

Jim Olson
E3Coalition
Viroqua, WI

Burke O’Neal, Director
Full Spectrum Solar
Madison, WI

Robert H. Owen, Jr.
Consulting Engineer/Meteorologist
Middleton, WI

Hon. Joe Parisi
Dane County Executive
Madison, WI

George Penn
Global Energy Options
Madison, WI

Katie Peterman, Manager, Cooperative Affairs
Organic Valley Family of Farms
LaFarge, WI

Ted Petith
Greenlink Projects, LLC
Madison, WI

Greg Phillips
American Power, Inc. Electrical Contractors
Janesville, WI

Eric Pipkin
Pipkin Electric, Inc.
Sparta, WI

John Price
Access Solar LLC
Waukesha, WI

Chris Quandt, Senior Project Manager
Bachmann Construction
Madison, WI

Bob Ramlow
Artha Sustainable Energy Center
Amherst, WI

Alex Rein
Verona, WI

Kurt Reinhold
Solar Connections LLC
Madison, WI

Ed Ritger
Ritger Law Office
Random Lake, WI

Cathy Robinson
Chippewa Valley Alternative Energy
Chippewa Falls, WI

Rik Rosenlund
Midwest Solar Power
Madison, WI

Mick Sagrillo
Sagrillo Power & Light
Forestville, WI

Kris Schmid
Legacy Solar LLC
Frederic, WI

Brian Schwaller
EcoManity LLC, Owner
The Sustainable Living Group, President
Elkhart Lake, WI

Al Schulz, Owner/CEO
Safe Work
La Crosse, WI

Jeff Seidl, President
I-Quip
Seymour, WI

Roy Settgas, Owner
Sunrise Energy Services
Washburn, WI

Carl Siegrist
Carl Siegrist Consulting
Whitefish Bay, WI

Wes Slaymaker
WES Engineering
Madison, WI

Chuck Smith, President
Current Electric Company
Brookfield, WI

Judy Spring
Sustain Sauk County
Baraboo, WI

Zeus Stark, Owner
Next Step Energy LLC
Eau Claire, WI

Doug Stingle, Development Director
Midwest Renewable Energy Association
Custer, WI

Josh Stolzenburg
North Wind Renewable Energy, LLC
Stevens Point, WI

Amy Taivalkoski, Principal
ALT Energy
Sussex, WI

Craig Tarr, President
Energy Concepts
Hudson, WI

Dave Tebo, Administrator
Town of Greenville
Greenville, WI

Neale Thompson
Janesville Home and Solar
Janesville, WI

Todd Timmerman
Timmerman’s Talents LLC
Platteville, WI

Melissa Van Ornum
DVO, Inc.
Chilton, WI

Michael Vickerman, Policy Director
RENEW Wisconsin
Madison, WI

Jerry Viste
Door County Environmental Council
Sturgeon Bay, WI

Larry Walker
Walker Energy Systems
Madison, WI

Ray Walter, Ph.D, President
MyEnergy, LLC
Pewaukee, WI

Michael Ward
E & W Heating and Air Conditioning
Middleton, WI

David Washebek, President/CEO
Lemberg Electric Company
Brookfield, WI

Frank Weeks
D H Solar
Prairie du Chien, WI

Robert Weier, Vice President
ELEXCO, Inc.
Seymour, WI

Laura West
West Winds Renewable Resources, LLC
Plover, WI

Sr. Janet Weyker, Director
Eco-Justice Center
Racine, WI

Terry Wiggins
Earth Justice Ministry of the First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI

Sally Wiley
Gaea’s Farm
Walworth, WI

Tom Wilson
HOME REMEDIES Residential Energy Services, Viroqua, WI
Northern Thunder, Eau Claire, WI

Dona Wininsky
American Lung Association in Wisconsin
Milwaukee, WI

Dean Wolff
Milwaukee Solar
Milwaukee, WI

Niels Wolter, Owner
Madison Solar Consulting
Madison, WI

Mark Yeager
Sun & Daughters Solar, LLC
Rhinelander, WI

Jim Yockey, CEO
Seventh Generation Systems Integration
Madison, WI

John Young
Resource Solar
Madison, WI

Bruce Zahn,
Architect
Milwaukee, WI

Michael Zander, CEO
Biogas Direct
Sauk City, WI

Ed Zinthefer, President
Arch Electric, LLC
Plymouth, WI

- END -

Excerpts from O’Neal’s e-mail (Harming WI Industry: Poor Handling of Focus on Energy Renewables Program) to the PSC and Governor Walker:

Full Spectrum Solar employs seventeen people directly in good paying construction jobs in WI. Many more are employed indirectly as subcontractors and in manufacturing and distribution of the products we use. We are very concerned about the handling of the renewable energy program by the Shaw Group. Nearly all the Focus on Energy incentives for renewable energy systems require that they be installed by the end of this calendar year, but there is no indication whether there will be any renewable energy programs at all next year. In fact, the Shaw Group has not even selected subcontractors to administer this program next year! This uncertainty, along with the normal year-end rush to secure federal tax credits, is creating a massive push to get systems installed by the end of this year. This is requiring installers to hire additional employees and take on additional vehicles and tools, without any assurance of future work. If there is no Focus renewable program at the beginning of next year, but a possibility of a future program, every potential customer will put their work on hold. It is hard to imagine a funding approach that would be more destructive to the renewable energy industry in Wisconsin than what seems to be getting set up by Focus on Energy.

Excerpts from the response of Robert Norcross, Administrator, Gas and Electric Division at the PSC:

The Commission appreciates hearing your perspective on the Focus on Energy renewable programs. While I understand your concerns, changes to the renewable programs are necessary to ensure their sustainability in the long run. Administrative rules require that the portfolio of Focus on Energy programs achieve a cost-benefit ratio of at least 1.0, based on the Total Resource Cost test. With the exception of biomass, no renewable resource measure meets this criteria. In the past, inclusion of non-cost-effective renewable resources was deemed appropriate as the goal of Focus on Energy was to assist in building the renewable infrastructure. Previously, this has not greatly affected the cost-effectiveness of the overall portfolio of programs because renewable projects were a fairly small component of Focus on Energy. However, in 2011 there was a significant increase in renewable projects approved. This resulted in about twice the entire 2011 renewable budget being committed by mid-year. It also put the entire Focus on Energy program in jeopardy of not being cost-effective.

Niels Wolter then offered his analysis of the PSC’s reliance on the Total Resource Cost test and the resulting consequences:

The TRC test is not from the customer’s perspective. It does not include a solar electric system owner’s federal tax benefits, nor does it consider their electric bill reductions. Rather it considers the system from a broader societal perspective. That means that the value of the generation is what it costs a utility to generate the power and meet demand (marginal cost). So what was an economically viable system for a customer may become non viable from the TRC perspective.

Read more about the TRC test here (starting on page 6-5).

Interestingly given how these cost tests work, reducing the Focus on Energy incentive level, does not improve the solar electric program’s benefit cost ratio. If the Focus program has a given amount of incentive funds and demand for incentives outstrips supply, then reducing the incentive per kW would result in more people installing systems, and the Focus program’s portfolio (all the technologies they support) benefit cost ratio would be further reduced. In other words, the reduced incentive would result in more people making the non economic decision (based on the TRCt test) of installing a solar electric system, and pull down the TRC of the entire Focus program. So reducing incentive levels is not a solution to this issue… strangely raising the incentive levels would. But that’s not going to happen.

The TRC tests seems to be an alternative reality that no one lives in… and strange things can happen there.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Those are words my kids hear a lot. We think about what we buy, opting for recyclable materials or recycled content instead. We think about what we throw away, opting instead to find someone who can use it or a place to recycle it. And we think about the energy we use. In our home you don’t get air conditioning 24/7 during the summer — even when it’s 98 degrees outside — and you don’t get to jack up the heat to 80 because you’re cold during the winter.

So it frustrates me a great deal when I hear about things that show our state legislature isn’t taking conservation efforts as seriously as it should.

Take for instance the fact that in the past six months, three wind farm developers with a combined investment of more than $600 million, have stopped operations in Wisconsin. The developers cited regulatory uncertainty and a perception that Wisconsin offers a hostile business environment for “green” energy as the reasons why.

And while Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to end Wisconsin’s recycling as we know it was denied by the state Legislature, the budget bill did cut funding for local recycling by 40 percent, which will result in communities making cuts to their services or charging fees to make up the lost revenue.

In June a coalition of 124 businesses signed a letter asking the governor to veto the portion of the state budget that rolled back funding to Focus on Energy, a statewide energy efficiency and renewable energy program. In spite of this grassroots effort, that claimed the focus also created jobs for the state, the cuts remained in the state budget.

Ironically, these things came to fruition around the same time that a report issued by The Brookings Institution reported Wisconsin’s clean energy jobs at nearly 77,000. Among the clean energy jobs categorized in the report were those in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and recycling and reuse. The report also cited Focus on Energy for the attractive buyback rates offered by utilities for renewable energy and the innovative incentives that encourage customer installation of renewables.

Madison: The Joint Finance Committee will consider the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) recent recommendation to increase Focus On Energy Funding today in the State Capitol. The PSC recently voted to
increase investment in Focus on Energy (FOE) and set new goals that together would decrease energy use 1.5 percent annually by 2014.

The Sierra Club strongly supports this common-sense investment in energy efficiency that will create thousands of jobs and save customers money on their utility bills. For every dollar invested in energy efficiency, homeowners and businesses have saved around $3. FOE has created over 16,000 jobs and saved homeowners and businesses over $275,000,000 since its inception in 2000.

Under the proposed Focus on Energy investment, ratepayers can expect to save about $15 per month on their energy bills over the next 4 years. Increasing Wisconsin’s commitment to energy efficiency programs will also create at least 4,000 jobs each year. Approving goal-based increases in energy efficiency will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

“Creating goal-based energy efficiency funding for Focus on Energy will create thousands of jobs and decrease the $16 billion we sent to other states to fuel our energy needs in 2008,” said Shahla M. Werner, PhD, Director, Sierra Club John Muir Chapter. “Supporting the Public Service Commission’s ecommendations will clean up Wisconsin’s air and create thousands of jobs at a time when our economy most needs this type of forward-thinking invest investment,” said Caryl Terrell, Energy Efficiency Team Chair, Sierra Club – John Muir Chapter.

The Sierra Club strongly disputes the negative claims by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. There is a key provision for industrial users that caps contributions at 2005 levels, and investing in efficient equipment protects industries from price spikes. Independent analysis also shows that although rates may go up with increased energy
efficiency investment, bills go down. The Sierra Club urges the media to check the claims of the opposition.

“Examining their shaky claims will reveal that the facts related to real Wisconsin jobs, real energy savings, and real reduced operating costs are with us,” added Werner.

Focus on Energy offers a checklist of building details to help you with the construction of a new home that is built “ready” for future renewable energy installations.

The first list consists of electric utilities. The second list consists of natural gas utilities. There are 9 new electric utilities participating in July and 3 new gas utilities. These are highlighted in bold.

ELECTRIC UTILITIES PARTICIPATING IN FOCUS
Alliant Energy
Argyle Electric & Water Utility
Belmont Municipal Light & Water
Benton Electric & Water Utility
Bloomer Electric & Water Utility
Cadott Light & Water Department
Cashton Light & Water
Centuria Municipal Electric Utility
Consolidated Water & Power Company
Cornell Municipal Light Department
Cumberland Municipal Utility
Dahlberg Light & Power Company
Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
Elroy Electric & Water Utility
Gresham Water & Electric Plant
Kiel Utilities
La Farge Municipal Utilities
Madison Gas & Electric
Medford Electric Utility
North Central Power Co. Inc.
Northwestern Wisconsin Electric Company
Pardeeville Public Utilities
Pioneer Power & Light Co.
Price Electric Cooperative
Princeton Light & Water Department
Rice Lake Utilities
Richland Electric Cooperative
Scenic Rivers Energy Cooperative
Shawano Municipal Utilities
Shullsburg Electric Utility
Spooner Municipal Electric Utility
Stratford Water & Electric Department
Superior Water, Light & Power Company
Viola Municipal Electric Utility
We Energies
Westfield Electric Company
Wisconsin Public Service Corp.
Wonewoc Water & Light Department
Xcel Energy

NATURAL GAS UTILITIES PARTICIPATING IN FOCUS
Alliant Energy
City Gas Company
Madison Gas & Electric
Midwest Natural Gas, Inc.
St. Croix Valley Natural Gas
Superior Water, Light & Power
We Energies
Wisconsin Public Service
Xcel Energy

Hot Water Products is helping to lead the Wisconsin plumbing and heating trades into the 21st century. A wholesale distributor for the BradfordWhite Corporation and manufacturer’s representative for Heat Transfer Products, the fast-growing Milwaukee-based company is also:

To take just one example, Hot Water Products worked with its customers in the trades on a high-rise apartment complex in Milwaukee. Through the statewide Focus on Energy program, the property owner was able to replace an old boiler system, receive nearly a $5,000 rebate, and enjoy significantly lower monthly heating bills thanks to the new technology.

Click here to continue reading.

RENEW Wisconsin and the Madison Peak Oil Group invite legislators, aides, Capitol staff, lobbyists, agency staff, and the general public to a series brown-bag lunches on energy-related issues.

Without a doubt, this legislative session will see several bills and administrative rules on energy issues, and the brown-bag lunches will provide the background and context to help with a better understanding of the underlying issues. The briefings will be non-partisan and will not offer positions on any proposals pending at the time.

Focus on Energy: Status and Future, presented by Kathy Kuntz, Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation. Focus on Energy works with eligible Wisconsin residents and businesses to install cost effective energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Focus information, resources and financial incentives help to implement projects that otherwise would not get completed, or to complete projects sooner than scheduled. Its efforts help Wisconsin residents and businesses manage rising energy costs, promote in-state economic development, protect our environment and control the state’s growing demand for electricity and natural gas.

For more information contact Ed Blume.

See the story at Channel 3.

MADISON – Today two veteran State Senators strongly criticized the bipartisan raid of $55 million in energy efficiency and conservation funds this year. Senator Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay) and Senator Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) specifically charged that poor state budgeting will lead to future electricity and natural gas rate increases.

“At a time when we are seeing electricity rates and natural gas prices soar, we shouldn’t be taking these backwards steps,” said Cowles. “Raiding the energy conservation fund is absolutely going in the wrong direction.”

Read the full release on wispolitics.com.