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Wisconsin's Economy Could Profit From Renewable Energy
Not counting its solar resources, Wisconsin has the potential
to generate almost twice its current electricity generation from renewable sources
of energy – enough to power more than one million homes, according to a
new report released today by the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG).
"Generating Solutions: How Clean, Renewable Energy is Boosting Local Economies
and Saving Consumers Money" shows that a national standard increasing the
use of renewable energy to 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply by 2020
would benefit both the economy and environment.
"The good news is that renewable energy is coming online in Wisconsin.
The bad news is that more than 95 percent of our electricity generation still
comes from fossil fuels and nuclear power," said WISPIRG Director Kerry
Schumann.
WISPIRG and Advent Lutheran Church Pastor Jeff Wild released the report in front
of the Madison Christian Community, a church that has installed solar photovoltaics
to power the building.
"Every faith community that professes that God is the Creator of all that
exists and gathers at a place of worship must grapple with the reality that
the edifice contributes to the deprivation of the environment. Therefore, faith
communities should strive to minimize their impact on the environment. Members
of Madison Christian Community hope their efforts of using a renewable source
of energy as a component of energy conservation will nudge policy makers in
government and utility companies to make a greater commitment to use renewable
sources of energy," said Pastor Jeff Wild.
Pointing to recent price spikes in the natural gas market, WISPIRG urged Congress
and the Bush Administration to take steps to protect consumers from future price
fluctuations and noted that increasing the percentage of electricity generated
by renewable energy could save consumers money in the long run by reducing the
demand for natural gas.
"By diversifying the electricity mix to include renewable energy, consumers
would have alternative choices when prices rise rather than being held captive
by the whims of a volatile fossil fuel market," noted Schumann.
The PIRG report cited examples of ways Wisconsin currently uses renewable energy,
including:
- Wind farms owned and operated by Madison Gas & Electric, Wisconsin
Public Service Corporation and We Energies;
- Solar projects owned and operated by Madison Gas & Electric at several
locations around Dane County, including the Henry Vilas Zoo, Dane County Arena
and 10 area high schools;
- Integration of solar photovoltaics into a building on the UW-Green Bay
campus, a partnership between Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, the State
of Wisconsin and UW-Green Bay;
- Methane gas extraction from animal waste project recently agreed to by
Environmental Power Corporation in the Green Bay area.
"Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed an energy bill that
will take us backward and the Senate is expected to vote on its energy bill
in May. Fortunately, all of Wisconsin’s representatives, with the exception
of Representative Paul Ryan, voted against an energy bill that is bad for the
environment and bad for consumers," said Schumann. "Neither piece
of legislation includes a national renewable energy standard that would boost
production of electricity from clean renewable resources," she continued.
WISPIRG made the following policy recommendations:
-
Create state and national "renewable portfolio standards" (RPS)
to require an increase in the amount of electricity from renewable sources of
energy, with the national standard set at 20 percent of power generation by
2020.
- Establish a national public benefits fund to provide funds for energy
efficiency programs, investments in promising renewable energy technologies,
and low-income assistance programs. A national fund would provide matching funds
to the state to help enhance Wisconsin’s program;
- Produce national net metering standards that allow consumers who generate
their own electricity from renewable technologies (e.g. a small wind turbine,
a rooftop solar panel) to reduce their electric bill by getting credit for any
power generated;
- Expand and extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for builders of renewable
energy for at least five years and include wind, solar, geothermal energy, and
clean biomass—specifically excluding municipal solid waste incinerators.
"While Wisconsin is generating solutions, Congress is considering legislation
that would make our energy problems worse. We urge Senator Feingold and Senator
Kohl to put America’s technological know-how to work to replicate these
successes across the country," said Schumann.
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