Renewable Energy in Wisconsin:
Anatomy of a Long, Strange Trip …
And Where We’re Headed Next
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
October 17, 2011
Sierra Club – Great Waters Group
Milwaukee, WI
About RENEW Wisconsin
Advocates for state-level sustainable
energy policies since 1991
One of the architects of the state’s
Renewable Energy Standard and
ratepayer-funded public benefits program
Top three policy priorities for 2010
* Uniform Permitting Standards for Wind
* Increased Renewable Energy Standard
* Advanced Renewable Tariffs
Windy afternoon (10-14-11)
Developing an on-line Wisconsin Wind
Information Center (www.wiwindinfo.net)
Butler Ridge project
Hwy 33 east of Hwy 67
An organized voice for renewable energy
producers and purchasers!
How RENEW Promotes
Renewable Energy

Strengthening Utility Renewable Energy Requirements
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Fighting for Funding Security for Focus on Energy
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Promoting Voluntary RE Purchases
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Educating Media, Policymakers on RE Benefits
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Partnering with Proactive Utilities
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Increasing Renewable Energy Tariffs (buyback rates)
About RENEW Wisconsin

Founded in 1991
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Nonprofit – funding comes from grants,
members

Over 275 members (businesses and individual)

Please join!
Presentation Outline
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Survey of Energy Realities – Where I’m Coming from
Investing for America’s Future vs. Propping up
America’s Unsustainable Past and Present
Images of Sustainable Energy
Why Wind Energy is a Plus for Wisconsin
Renewable Energy Policy Advances + Reversals
Key Terms and Concepts
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Stores (fossil energy) vs. flows (renewables)
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On-demand energy vs. as-available energy
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The Solar Ration (using the interest, not the principal)
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Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)
 Means transition from highly energetic resources
like petroleum + NG to less energetic renewable
resources is like swimming upstream
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Hubbert’s Curve (Peak Oil/Peak Energy)
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Sources vs. sinks
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Energy literacy vs. energy numeracy
Energy Sources
Native to Wisconsin
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Sunlight
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Wood
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Manure
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Wind
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Hydro
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Crops (grasses, corn, etc.)
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Wastes (LFG, wastewater)
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Geothermal (storage)
Constituting 5% of energy used
Not Native to Wisconsin
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Coal
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Natural Gas
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Oil
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Uranium
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Geysers
Constituting 95% of energy used
Fossil fuel imports hurt
Wisconsin’s economy
Wisconsin Energy Trade Deficit
$
~$8 Billion/Year in 2003.
>$18 Billion in 2010
Overcoming Economics 101
“Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever
in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.” –
Kenneth Boulding
****************************************
How many economists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A. None. If it really needed changing, market forces would
have caused it to happen.
Q.
Energy Policy Must
Recognize Energy Realities

Supplies of liquid fuels peaked in 2008
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Capital is disappearing before our very eyes
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Energy and food are the original currencies
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The shift from stores to flows is inevitable
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Current economy is highly energy-intensive
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EROEI must inform decision-making
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We can’t afford to prop up existing energy sinks or
engage in wealth-draining military adventures
But Economic Signals Are Confusing
– Signs of Deflation
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Consumption of energy has declined since 2008
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Natural gas prices in a protracted slump
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Coal generation has become more expensive – due
to declining mine productivity, rising transportation
costs
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Energy markets influenced by other markets (oil
follows the Euro)

Weakness in housing, manufacturing, employment
pull energy prices lower.
Peak Oil Supply
Peak Economy
Peak Crude
Peak Unconventional?
Peak Credit
Peak Housing Values
Peak Income
Peak Jobs?
Have We
Hit the
Wall?
Peak Demand
Peak Mobility
Peak Shipping
Peak Power?
Three Paths to Choose From
Entering the
Post-Peak
Environment
Plan A
Business As
Usual
Plan C
Plan B
Green New Deal
Curtailment and
Community
Capsule Descriptions of Plans
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Plan A 
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Plan B 
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Plan C 
Complete denial of reality -- recipe
for massive political turmoil/social
upheaval in the near future
Purely a substitution strategy -- does
not question premise of existing
economy – ignores Jevons’ Paradox
Recognizes need to downsize
economy, de-consumerize citizenry,
and de-specialize society
Renewable Energy Pluses
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Energy Security
Energy Security
Energy Security
Price Security
Environmental
Economic
Economic
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Native to Wisconsin
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Customer generation
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Non-depleting
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No fuel-based inflation
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No air/water emissions
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Local contractors/labor
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Strengthens tax base
Renewable Energy Minuses
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Energy Supply
Energy Supply
Energy Supply
Economic
Economic
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Physics
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Difficult to scale up
Non-dispatchable
Weather-dependent
Higher capital costs
More labor-intensive (a
blessing in disguise)
Lower EROEI (except for
commercial-scale wind)
and large hydro
Plan A Value Proposition:
Tomorrow’s Wealth Feeds Today’s Economy
Coal, Natural Gas, Nuclear
 Benefits
(cheap electricity) front-loaded,
costs (environmental mitigation) backloaded
Fuel used today means less available tomorrow
 EROEI of fuels likely to decline over time
 Pollution, waste storage not factored into initial
economic analysis

Result: Intergenerational imbalance favors current inhabitants.
Plan C Value Proposition:
Today’s Wealth FeedsTomorrow’s Economy
Solar, Wind, Hydro, Bioenergy
Costs (expensive equipment) front-loaded,
benefits (fuel, low O&M) backloaded
Longer-lived projects
 Output declines are slight
 EROEI of energy sources remains constant
 Environmental constraints increase RE’s value
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Result: Intergenerational imbalance favors future inhabitants.
Question: Is there enough stored wealth
to finance energy transition?
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Yes in nations like Germany, where there is
a national consensus to remake their energy
economy.
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Doubtful in nations like the U.S., because
incumbent economic interests are effectively
deploying $$ to neutralize public policy.
Here’s an Economic Development
Strategy with No Future
Casino,
French Lick,
Indiana
This is an
overscaled,
highly
entropic
operation
that devours
energy like
there’s no
tomorrow.
This bloated vessel doesn’t even float!!
Can RE Run a Residential Golf Resort?
Tesoro,
Port St. Lucie,
Florida
“When the
depression
ends, there
will be a pentup demand for
happiness”
--Bobby Ginn
Tesoro’s $48 million clubhouse amid 750 empty lots
We Have to Stop Outsourcing Energy
Capture and Start Doing It Ourselves
My house
This Fire Station Has a
Long-Term Future
Madison Fire
Station No. 6
Installer:
H&H Solar
This School Has a Long-Term Future
Osceola Middle School
System Designer: Energy Concepts
Installer: Steiner Plumbing
This Church Has a Long-Term Future
Church of the Resurrection
Pewaukee
System designer and installer: Sunvest
So Does this House of Worship
Lake Country Unitarian Universalist Church
Hartland
System designer and installer: Sunvest
This Lodge Has a Long-Term Future
Elks Club, Good Hope Road, Milwaukee
Liberty Tax Service,
Good Hope Road,
Milwaukee
This Business
Has a LongTerm Future
Casino,
French Lick,
Indiana
It would be next to impossible to support this monstrosity
with renewable energy, even if all the lights inside were
powered with LED’s. Its scale is simply too large.
Observation #1
To run a world on renewable energy, a new
infrastructure and set of expectations must be
created. Because the EROEI of renewables is
less than that of fossil fuels, the new
infrastructure must be built with today’s wealth
before it is frittered away on socially unproductive
products and activities (McMansions, NASCAR,
casinos, bank bailouts, etc.).
Observation # 2
The most agonizing decisions that await us will
involve determining which elements of our built
environment can be supported with renewable
energy and which elements cannot. With a lower
EROEI, we will not be able to run a world that
formerly ran on cheap, abundant fossil fuels. We
have little choice but to downsize our buildings,
downscale our communities, and reorganize the
economy.
Wisconsin Energy Facts
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No reserves of fossil fuels
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Long supply lines to deliver coal, oil, natural gas
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Primary energy imports valued at $15 billion/yr
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Renewable energy is locally available
Why Support Windpower?
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Clean
Non-depleting
Fixed Price
Creates Wealth
Scalable to Utilities
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Environmental
Energy Security
Risk Management
Economic Development
Practicality
A sustainable source of wealth for Wisconsin!!
An Often Overlooked
Attribute of Wind Power
It doesn’t take any fossil fuel to
bring the wind to the turbine blades.
Windpower Strengthens WI Communities
Left: Butler Ridge
Right: Glacier Hills
Both projects are along Highway 33 about 40 miles apart
The Importance of a National Energy Policy
Source: American Wind Energy Association, 2011
Iowa: 20% of its electricity + jobs + economic growth
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Iowa second-largest state for wind power in the U.S.
Now received 20% of its electricity from wind energy
» Iowa employs
over 5,000
people in the
wind energy
industry, many
of them in the
manufacturing
sector
Source: American Wind Energy Association, 2011
Attacks on Wind Energy
in Wisconsin in 2011
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Introduction of special session bill that would have required unreasonable
setbacks of 1,800 feet from property lines. (Note: this was the only Walker
proposal not approved by the Legislature.
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Suspension of the uniform wind siting rules (PSC 128) by the Joint Committee
for Review of Administrative Rules.
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Adoption of SB 81 (“Outsource Renewable Energy to Canada Act”),allowing
utilities to count the purchase of electricity from large Canadian hydroelectric
facilities toward their Renewable Energy Standard (RES), displacing in-state
generation from wind and other renewable energy sources.
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Bill introduced (AB 146) to indefinitely extend RES time limits for electric
utilities to comply.
Source: American Wind Energy Association, 2011
Wisconsin: Losing Jobs, Economic Development
» State has already seen several wind projects canceled or
deferred – total could reach:
• Loss of $ 1.8 billion
• Loss of 2 million job-hours of construction
Source:
American
Wind Energy
Association,
2011
Wisconsin: Losing Jobs, Economic Development
Wind energy industry jobs are leaving
Wisconsin for IA, IL, MI, and IN….
 Businesses are closing in Wisconsin

Source:
American
Wind Energy
Association,
2011
Snapshot - Midwest Windpower
Development Activity
State
Sources:
American Wind Energy
Association,
Windpower Monthly,
RENEW Wisconsin
Operating
capacity
(in MW)
Under construction
(in MW)
Iowa
3705
589
Minnesota
2518
271
Illinois
2435
563
Indiana
1339
--
Wisconsin
469
167
Missouri
459
--
Michigan
164
223
Ohio
106
334
Thesis Statement and Corollary
Economies of scale are achieved by shrinking
the labor contribution relative to output, which
explains why utility-scale energy is less
expensive than do-it-yourself energy.
Distributing renewable energy through
customer-sited systems increases job-hours
per energy unit produced as well as promoting
entrepreneurship and small business
development.
Economic Development Impacts
of Community-Scale RE
Revitalizing
ourselves through
community-scale
projects that
employ local
labor to build a
sustainably
energized
society.
From Small Systems – Big Results
Example - Germany
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Utilities are required to accept power from customer-sited RE
systems through fixed, long-term buyback rates
20% of Germany’s electricity now generated from renewables
7,000 MW of PV to be installed in 2011
Germany has more than half the world’s PV capacity
Payoff: 300,000 people employed in the RE sector
Rapidly electrifying freight rail transportation
Social Rationale for Mandating
Distributed Renewables
1)
Economic Development
Manufacturing
b. Wealth Creation
c. Employment and Jobs
a.
2)
3)
Energy Security
Climate Change
GHD, Inc.
Environmental engineering firm
specializing in farm-sited
anaerobic digesters
Based in Chilton, incorporated
in 1989
Notable WI installations:
Holsum Dairy (1+2), Quantum
Dairy, Lake Breeze, Clover Hill,
Statz Brothers, Grotegut,
Maple Leaf (1 +2)
73 ADs operating at 38 farms
& 19 under construction at 14
farms; found in 13 states
Clover Hill Dairy, Campbellsport, WI - 2006
Uses a patented two-stage,
mixed plug-flow digester
design
No. of FTE employees: 40
www.ghdinc.net
Green Valley Farm,
Shawano
Slide courtesy of Focus on Energy
Renewable Energy Policy Successes
1999 -2009
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1999 - Focus on Energy (Renewable Energy Program)
2002 – We Energies Renewable Energy Commitment
2006 - Renewable Energy Standard (10% by 2015)
2006 – Strengthened Focus on Energy
2006 – State of Wisconsin RE Purchase Requirement
2009 – Wind Energy Siting Law
Renewable Energy Policy Reversals
2010 - 2011
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Clean Energy Jobs Act Goes Down the Tubes
Legislature Slashes 2012 Focus on Energy Budget
New FOE Administrator Suspends Incentives for RE
Legislature Waters Down RES w/ Canadian Hydro
Bill Introduced to Relax RE Credit Banking Rules
Legislature Suspends Wind Energy Siting Rule
We Energies Does About Face on Renewables
2006 Press Release
2011 Web Site Notice
We Energies announces PSC
approval of voluntary renewable
energy program
We Energies unilaterally
terminates program halfway
through the 10-year period
$60 million on RE over a 10-year
period ($6 million/year)
Commitment based on
agreement w/ RENEW not to
oppose Elm Road coal plants
Nonprofit Recipients of We Energies’
Renewable Energy Incentives
Renewable energy system hosts
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Village of Cascade (wind)
Shorewood Schools (SHW)
MKE Public Library (PV)
MSOE (PV)
City of Brookfield (PV)
City of Wauwatosa (PV)
Concordia Univ. (PV)
Growing Power (PV)
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Lawrence Univ. (PV, wind)
MATC (PV, wind)
Waukesha Cty TC (PV)
Ft. Atkinson Schools (PV, SHW,
wind)
Dozens of churches (PV)
City of Racine (PV)
Racine EcoJustice Ctr. (PV,
wind)
What You Can Do

Demand an explanation from We
Energies for its decision to terminate its
renewable energy commitment halfway
through the program.

Help RENEW publicize We Energies’
refusal to honor its commitments.
What You Can Do (cont.)
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Fight the rollbacks (retreat from renewables)
Contact your legislators
The Governor’s office
The PSC
 Carol Stemrich: carol.stemrich@wisconsin.gov
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DOA Energy Division
 Kevin Vesperman: kevin.vesperman@wisconsin.gov
Never Give Up!
Butler Ridge viewed from the Town
of Addison
Our vision of rural Wisconsin
Michael Vickerman
RENEW Wisconsin
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org
www.renewwisconsin.org
http://renewwisconsinblog.org/
www.madisonpeakoil-blog.blogspot.com