Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle signs Recovery Zone Bond Bill in Wisconsin Rapids (Wisconsin Rapid Tribune)

(Press Release from Governor's Office)

Governor Jim Doyle today signed into law Senate Bill 440, which allows the state to maximize federal bonds to help fund projects that will create hundreds of jobs in Wisconsin. The Governor signed the bill at Energy Composites, a wind blade manufacturing plant in Wisconsin Rapids that could benefit from the measure.

The federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allows certain local units of government to issue Recovery Zone Facility bonds for private sector economic development projects. Wisconsin received $238 million in bonding authority to be divided among 63 counties, plus the cities of Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay. Under the Recovery Act, most counties did not receive a large enough share of the funding to effectively provide assistance to businesses that need it. These bonds must be issued by January 1, 2011.

Under SB 440, any county or city that does not use its original bond allocation in a timely manner has its share re-entered into a statewide pool. The Department of Commerce will then administer that pool to provide needed financing to help companies like Energy Composites move forward projects to expand and create jobs.

“Thanks to President Obama and Congressman Obey, the Recovery Act has given us this powerful tool to create new jobs here in Wisconsin, especially in the emerging clean energy economy,” Governor Doyle said. “By pooling these resources together, we will make sure we take full advantage of this opportunity and move forward job-creating projects across the state.”

Energy Composites is looking to break ground on a 535,000 square foot wind blade manufacturing plant next month, a project that will create more than 600 good-paying clean energy jobs for the Wisconsin Rapids area. The signing of SB 440 will allow the company to request bonds from Commerce to help move the project forward.

Governor Doyle thanked Senator Lassa, Representatives Molepske and Schneider, and Democratic leaders in the Assembly and Senate for their work on the bill.

“My number one priority this year is helping our businesses create jobs and giving our workers the opportunities to get those jobs,” Governor Doyle said. “This bill is just one more example of the steps we’re taking to help our businesses create jobs and position Wisconsin to be a leader in the clean energy economy.”

Governor Doyle has created some of the strongest economic development tools in the country to help companies expand in Wisconsin and create thousands of new jobs. The Governor has also worked hard to improve the state’s tax ranking, and today Wisconsin ranks 30th in business taxes – well below the national average.

To further build the state’s economy and create jobs, the Governor has called for the passage of the Clean Energy Jobs Act, which will create 15,000 jobs in the emerging clean energy economy, and the passage of the CORE Jobs Act, which builds on the Governor’s Accelerate Wisconsin plan by providing millions more in tax credits for angel and venture capital investments. The Governor is also creating the Wisconsin Green to Gold Fund to help manufacturers reduce energy costs, improve their bottom line, and create and retain jobs.

Source: Wisconsin Rapids Tribune

Report Identifies Opportunities to Retrain Wisconsin Workers for Green Careers (COWS)

COWS (Center on Wisconsin Strategy) and the Apollo Alliance today released a joint report that identifies components of Wisconsin’s workforce development infrastructure that can be better integrated and scaled up to support the state’s emerging green economy.

The report, "Mapping Green Career Pathways: Job Training Opportunities and Infrastructure in Wisconsin," recommends strengthening Wisconsin’s existing training infrastructure to build workers’ skills for green-collar jobs. Many of these jobs will be in construction and manufacturing, sectors currently in decline but projected to account for the majority of new jobs in clean energy industries. The new study also charts existing training programs - apprenticeship, technical college and community-based pathways - that represent key elements of a greener workforce development system. According to the report, while many of these elements thrive in Wisconsin, gaps between them must be minimized if the state is to build green career pathways that effectively serve Wisconsin workers and employers.

Click here to read Read Mapping Green Career Pathways.

Wind Power Has Another Banner Year (NY Times)

Despite a crippling recession and tight credit markets, the American wind power industry grew at a blistering pace in 2009, adding 39 percent more capacity. The country is close to the point where 2 percent of its electricity will come from wind turbines.

The American Wind Energy Association, in its annual report to be released on Tuesday, said the amount of capacity added last year, 9,900 megawatts, was the largest on record, and was 18 percent above the capacity added in 2008, also a banner year.

Click here for the full article in the New York Times.

Wisconsin Wind Energy Seminar Recap

A big thank you to everyone who attended the Wisconsin Wind Energy Seminar at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Madison. The event ended up with just under 200 attendees from all over Wisconsin.

Click here to complete the seminar evaluation!

This event was held to kickoff 2010 for the Wind Power Happy Hour Networking group based in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. These are monthly meetings that run from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Cannery Grill in Downtown Sun Prairie. The purpose is primarily networking, but also features a speaker on a topic of relevance to the wind energy sector.

Special thanks as well to our sponsors:

Major sponsors - Milsoft Utility Solutions, WPPI Energy, Natural Resources Consulting

Supporting sponsors - IEEE Madison Section, Vestas, imc Dataworks

Participating sponsors - JFNew, Stafford Rosenbaum, Realtime Utility Engineers

The lineup of presenters was intended to cover a wide variety of interests and perspectives on the current and future status of wind in Wisconsin. The presenters and their topics were as follows:

Mayor Joe Chase, City of Sun Prairie, welcomed the attendees to the "Greater Sun Prairie area."

Mr. Zach Brandon, Wisconsin Department of Commerce set the tone for the event by highlighting the State's newest programs to attract new wind business to Wisconsin as well as how to help our existing companies to better position themselves to be part of the supply chain.

Mr. Jeff Anthony, American Wind Energy Association, provided a great overview of national trends and how they could impact Wisconsin. On a national level, the development of wind energy resources continues although not as aggressively in 2009 as in 2008. Most signs seem to indicate that 2010 will see a resurgance in new generation. Siting of major manufacturing facilities varies by the manufacturer, and many are locating as close to the central U.S because of the availability of wind. Although Wisconsin is seeing activity in both the manufacturing side as well as the R&D side. The ongoing problem with getting an effective and efficient transmission system also remains an issue that needs to be dealt with.

Mr. Michael Vickerman, RENEW Wisconsin presented some detailed statistics on wind energy in Wisconsin as well as some highlights of recent siting legislation. Wisconsin lags behind on the number of megawatts produced compared to most Midwestern states. Michael referred to the ease of developing new generation in Iowa on several occasions, a fact that was reinforced by our utility presenters later in they day. Passage of new siting legislation should have a positive impact on Wisconsin's ability to build more generation. The recent PSC ruling on the Glacier Hills project provides some insight as to where they are going with the rules they are working on.

Mr. Mitch Bradt, P.E., University of Wisconsin gave an excellent presentation on the components of a wind farm that was both very detailed but understandable to attendees with non-technical backgrounds. This discussion helped highlight the component parts required for turbines, as well as the different types of technologies being deployed to improve efficiencies and return on investment.

Four major utilities, Andy Kellen (WPPI Energy), Greg Bollom (MGE), David Engels (Alliant Energy) and Andy Hesselbach (WE Energies) all participated in a short panel to talk about the renewable component in their portfolio, and where wind fits in both now and in the future. All four have made considerable strides to meet and exceed renewable energy standards ahead of schedule. Many of the purchase agreements and ownership stakes in recent wind projects have been in Iowa, but they continue to invest in and evaluate opporutnities in Wisconsin as well.

In one of the more anticipated presentations of the aftenoon, Dr. Steven Fredette from Vestas and Dr. Thomas Jahns from UW Madison highlighted their R&D partnership and the establishment of a Vestas office in Madison less than a year ago. Most of Vestas' production in location in Colorado, but they are establishing key R&D offices in areas where research universities can assist their research efforts here in the U.S. Vestas is one of the largest manufacturer of wind turbines in the world, and the fact that they are expanding here in Wisconsin is a welcome development.

Tim Laughlin from Wave Wind provided a short overview of their EcoDane project in the Town of Springfield in Dane County, where they will be owning and installing turbines from Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). Wave Wind is a locally based company with transportation, installation and maintenance facilities in Texas and Wisconsin. Their partnership with HHI represents a great opportunity for Wisconsin as successful projects are completed, more investment from Wave Wind and HHI is sure to follow.

Lastly, UW-Madison (Mitch Bradt, P.E.), UW Milwaukee (Dr. Adel Nasiri) and UW Platteville (Dr. Mesut Muslu and Dr. Michael Dalecki) all provided a short overview of their programs targeting the development of future engineers for the wind industry. All three programs are positioned to provide the workforce needed to foster additional expansion of the wind energy here in Wisconsin.

Attendance to the networking portion of the event, the Wind Power Happy Hour, was well attended as well.

The outcomes from this event were clear:

1) Southern Wisconsin (especially the private sector here) wants and needs to keep having discussions on how to facilitate the expansion of the wind energy sector and its supply chain.

2) Our local utilities are committed to renewable energy, especially wind power, whether motivated by a renewable energy standard or demands from their customers.

3) There have been some incredible investments in wind power by the private sector in the last couple of years, despite economic conditions. Even more notable is that this investment is being done by companies ranging from some of the largest manufacturers in the world all the way down to small one and two person firms.

4) The University of Wisconsin system is one of the top resources for training a Wisconsin workforce for employment growth in the wind energy sector.

5) The State of Wisconsin continues to position itself to be a significant player in the R&D sector as well as the manufacturing supply chain for wind energy.

The next meeting topic and speaker for the Wind Power Happy Hour will be announced soon. Check this blog post for updated information.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Location Change for Wisconsin Wind Energy Seminar

Due to the high number of registrants (200), we have moved the location of this event to:

Crowne Plaza Hotel
4402 E. Washington Ave.
Madison, WI 53704
(877) 454-5025
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/cp/1/en/hotel/msnet

If anyone registered on someone else's behalf, please be sure to pass along the new location.

Finally, to help offset the cost, we are seeking anyone who might be interested in sponsoring the Wind Power Happy Hour portion of this event. Please contact Neil at (608) 825-0894 or nstechschulte@cityofsunprairie.com ASAP if you would be interested.

Any questions, please feel free to contact me. See you at the Crowne Plaza in Madison on Thursday, Jan. 28th.

Wisconsin Opens Decade's First New Climate Efforts (New York Times)

[Blogger's Note: Wisconsin's debate on renewable energy and job creation has made the national news scene. Here's to hoping that we end up with something that does in fact increase our use of renewable energy, reduces our emissions, and CREATES jobs. Time will tell.]

Wisconsin lawmakers are leaping into a barbed debate on emissionless electricity, making it perhaps the first state to launch a major climate initiative in a new year that promises to be shaped by swirling politics, rugged economics and question marks in Congress.

Click here to read the full article in the New York Times.

Making a Connection: Wind Transmission Grid Weakens West of Wisconsin (Daily Reporter)

The multimillion-dollar construction projects to get the blades spinning won’t mean much if there’s no way to transmit wind farm electricity.

So far in Wisconsin, transmission has been less of a problem than local approvals and harnessing the wind, but that could change as the state reaches farther west for renewable energy.

“There are huge resources of wind west of Wisconsin,” said Charlie Higley, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin.

Transmitting those resources to Wisconsin and throughout the region is a challenge, he said, as the electric grid is not as expanded in those areas.he wind, but that could change as the state reaches farther west for renewable energy.

Click here to read the full article at The Daily Reporter.